Thursday, August 27, 2020

Crime and the Media free essay sample

How much is the medias depiction of wrongdoing adjusted and precise? The article will consider how precisely the media depicts wrongdoing, this will involve what kinds of wrongdoing stories they report on, regardless of whether those accounts are one-sided, the effect they have on the publics view of wrongdoing and the genuine truth of wrongdoing in Australia. At the point when we talk about the media we are not Just alluding to one explicit case of media, yet a wide range of types. The most widely recognized types of media individuals talk about today are the papers; a type of print media, TV and the nternet; a visual type of electronic media, and the radio; a verbal type of electronic media. There are other, minor types of media including magazines, nearby bulletins and web journals however there isnt much consideration given to them. In each medium outlet there are Journalists and correspondents who assemble the data to be introduced and afterward present it in the different various manners. At that point behind them you have the ground-breaking head honchos (David Baker, 2010; CRJIOOI unit book p. 59) who control the media, in spite of the fact that to get data on world issues, Australia for the most part depends on different sources like the American and I-JK news sources. Contingent upon the news source, diverse wrongdoing related stories will be accounted for on. For instance, a TV or paper article will commonly just pick a story that they have visual pictures for, while the radio broadcasts don't utilize visuals thus can give an account of more stories. For the most part however, all types of media report on similar kinds of wrongdoing stories, the ones which have a specific measure of debate, energy or are Just alarming in order to get the open intrigued or sufficiently interested to tune in, purchase or watch it. This creates most of the medias income nd, as I would see it, most pieces of the media are Just in it for the cash. Most of stories revealed in the media, about wrongdoing, have something to do with viciousness or forcefulness. Eg. Murder, attack and assault. Be that as it may, corporate, salaried and political wrongdoing is to a great extent disregarded or put into a minuscule inconsequential piece of a report since it doesn't sell too. From that you could reach the determination that TV and papers are fairly one-sided in their way to deal with announcing wrongdoing and the sorts of wrongdoing they report. That being stated, there are a few limitations put upon certain pieces of the media which estrict what they can and can't write about. Throughout the years criminologists have had the option to confirm that correspondents and Journalists work to three sorts of restrictions; Technical, Practical and Ideological. Chan 1987; Grabosky Wilson 1989; Ward 1995; Israel 1998; Brown 2003; Jawkes 2004; Crime and Justice: A Guide to Criminology, 3. 10) when a Journalist or correspondent is assembling a story they need to address the issues of the news source they are working for. For instance, a TV news program will need a visual picture to go wit h what they are stating, yet this annot consistently be done so they may decide not to report that specific story in detail and may include it as a little brief story, on the off chance that it is sufficiently significant, else they will most likely Just forget about everything together. A story likewise nas to be moderately straightforward, by and large as far as treats and baddies. (David Baker, 2010; CRJIOOI unit book p. 60) Television shows are more averse to investigate an unpredictable story that might be hard to comprehend for most of the open since individuals would lose enthusiasm for it and go to another station. Because of the ongoing Global Financial Crisis ost news sources have needed to lessen the quantity of correspondents and analytical writers they can recruit to do all the filthy work of burrowing around for valuable data. This implies they need to depend more on media discharges put out by the police and other compelling bodies, for example, parliament and the courts and that they are to some degree restricted in what they can give an account of. It would take an excessive number of their important assets to track with a long and unpredictable story of significant misrepresentation or defilement case than it would to track with a slamming in the lanes of Melbourne. Progressively throughout the years the media have been including a specific measure of engaging properties to their news communicates and stories instituted by the term Infotainment. By making news engaging they will get more supporters which will create more income thus this is Just a lucrative plan which realizes some moral inquiries concerning the abuse of wrongdoing for diversion and benefit. (Gerry Bloustien Mark Israel 2006; Crime and Justice: A Guide to Criminology, 3. 30) Stories identified with wrongdoing sell well, regardless of what medium they ome through, whether it be books or a paper article in light of the fact that, as I would see it, there is something fascinating, captivating and energizing about individuals conflicting with the law and we need to comprehend what befalls them. TV has gotten about the evaluations so they make a major publicity about the narratives they will cover in future communicates with the expectation that they will get individuals needing to watch them. Clearly, in light of the fact that there won't be a significant wrongdoing related story to investigate each day, shows like A Current Affair attempt and uncover individuals and organizations by utilizing shrouded hardware in their apparel. One such story on the sixth of April this year is a prime case of this. The story was on a vehicle suspension organization called Pedders and they uncovered that this organization had been misleading a huge number of dollars from individuals going in for their $14 dollar suspension check and revealing to them they expected to supplant significant vehicle parts. It turns out anyway that this story was not completely, valid. Numerous individuals on open gatherings have said that they have utilized Pedders and in no way like this has occurred. At the point when the media do stories like this Just to make news on the grounds that there is nothing worth providing details regarding and they need cash it becomes iased and we may not get the entire story, Just the side they need us to see. People groups impression of wrongdoing shifts broadly, a few people accept that we are being immersed and invaded by wrongdoing in Australia, Melbourne specifically, though other accept that it truly isn't excessively terrible and there are puts on the planet that are far more regrettable off than us, El Salvador in South America for one. The measure of genuine wrongdoing can't be diverse regardless of which perspective you have so for what reason is there such a great amount of contrast in our impression of wrongdoing? It has to do with the manner by which the media eport on wrongdoing and the manner in which they depict it in their accounts. Without access to precise wrongdoing measurements a great many people will Just take what the media says about the subject as reality since they nave next to zero information on the theme and t media appears as though it does. The media is continually providing details regarding wrongdoing and the casualties of wrongdoing so the individuals, who watch, tune in or read the various mediums may get the possibility that Australia is limitlessly turning into a nation where there is wrongdoing everywhere and you can't believe anyone you don't have the foggiest idea. It is improbable that you will pen up a paper nowadays while never observing a tale about someone carrying out a wrongdoing. Due to the over the top media inclusion of wrongdoing and the manner by which they spread it - to cause it to appear to be undeniably progressively emotional and energizing they are expanding the dread of wrongdoing the general population have. This dread of wrongdoing which has originated from the media consideration it gets has been contemplated and some intriguing ends have been drawn from these investigations. The measure of concern or dread individuals show is identified with where they live; high or low wrongdoing locale, what your identity is; youthful old, male female (Chilvers 1999) and that the ajority of individuals are increasingly frightful of circumstances that may emerge outside of the home than in the home (Hale 1996). All are substantial ends however the last one is charming. In spite of the fact that you would imagine this can be clarified effectively by saying people groups homes are places where they accept they are sheltered and secure from wrongdoing and its belongings. This announcement is in all plans and purposes legitimate, anyway there might be more to it than that. Because of security laws, the media doesn't approach people groups homes thus can once in a while report on wrongdoings in the home. Everybody realizes that wrongdoings do happen ithin people groups homes yet the media can't report widely on these violations. In view of this we don't get the recognition that wrongdoing in the house is a significant issue when contrasted with wrongdoing in the avenues. We will in general imagine that what befalls the poor casualties of wrongdoing in the house is dreadful yet it will never transpire. At the point when the media starts to write about these issues of dread it doesn't assist with halting it, in truth it for the most part has the opposite impact and the dread of wrongdoing starts to snowball and become more regrettable until inevitably you get what is known as a Moral Panic. Sentimental hysterias ave been portrayed as a condition, scene, individual or gathering of people which develop to get characterized as a danger to cultural qualities and interests (Cohen, 1972). One of the latest conviction based frenzies would be the circumstance portrayed by the media/legislators as the War on fear. After the horrendous occasions of September 11 2001 and the various other psychological militant assaults in different pieces of the world, the media has excited the dread general society have towards things like that transpiring. Security at major games, for example, the Australian open has been expanded so much cap it at times can bring hours to get into a field. This, I accept, was the aftereffect of the considerable number of media consideration given to fear monger assaults. The truth of wrongdoing is an entire distinctive ball game, and from the insights obviously the media has given us an inappropriate view of what is happening in Australia. Seeing as most of individuals are increasingly frightened of wrongdoing occurring outside the home lets view that measurement. As indicated by the Victorian Police wrongdoing measurements for 2008/2009 70% of all assaults recorded we

Saturday, August 22, 2020

Exploiting Dynamic Querying like Flooding Techniques in Unstructured Essay

Abusing Dynamic Querying like Flooding Techniques in Unstructured Peer-to-Peer Networks Review - Essay Example ses the potential arrangement (calculation) for making dynamic questioning like flooding procedure valuable for the general unstructured shared systems. Remarks: Researcher for assessing KaZaA, BitTorrent and other unstructured system topology can utilize the material for checking and executing the improved calculation strategy and assessment created in this paper. (2) ã‚ ¤Ã£Æ' ³Ã£Æ'ˆãÆ' ­Ã£Æ'€ã‚ ¯Ã£â€š ·Ã£Æ' §Ã£Æ' ³Ã£  ¯Ã£â‚¬ Ã§ ç © ¶Ã£  ®Ã¨Æ'Å'æ™ ¯Ã£â€šâ€žÃ¥â€¹â€¢Ã¦ ©Å¸Ã£â€š'〠Ã£ Ã£  ®Ã¥Ë†â€ Ã©â€¡Å½Ã£  ®Ã£â€š ¹Ã£Æ'šã‚ ·Ã£Æ' £Ã£Æ' ªÃ£â€š ¹Ã£Æ'ˆã  §Ã£  ªÃ£ â€žÃ¤ º ºÃ£  «Ã£â€šâ€šÃ£â€š Ã£ â€¹Ã£â€šâ€¹Ã¨ ¨â‚¬Ã¨'‰ã  §Ã¦ËœÅ½Ã§ ¢ ºÃ£  «Ã¨ ¿ °Ã£  ¹Ã£  ¦Ã£ â€žÃ£â€šâ€¹Ã£ â€¹(Does the presentation obviously express the foundation and inspiration in wording justifiable to the non-authority?) Remarks: The presentation is basic, clear, and reasonable to the non-expert. It gives the foundation and inspiration to examining an upgraded calculation for shared system for looking. (5) 㠁㠁 ®Ã¨ «â€"æâ€"‡ã  ®Ã¥Ë†â€ Ã©â€¡Å¾Ã£  ®Ã£â€š ¹Ã£Æ'šã‚ ·Ã£Æ' £Ã£Æ' ªÃ£â€š ¹Ã£Æ'ˆã  §Ã£  ªÃ£ â€žÃ¦Å¡â‚¬Ã¨ ¡Ã¨â‚¬â€¦ 㠁 «Ã£  ¨Ã£  £Ã£  ¦Ã£ Ã£  ®Ã¨ «â€"æâ€"‡ã  ¯Ã£  ©Ã£  ®Ã£  Ã£â€šâ€°Ã£ â€žÃ¨ ª ­Ã£  ¿Ã£â€šâ€žÃ£ â„¢Ã£ â€žÃ£ â€¹(How discernible is the paper for an architect who isn't a master inthis specific field?) Remarks: The paper for a designer who isn't an expert in this specific field is discernible. Be that as it may, if analysts have included ceratin catchphrases, the meanings of specific ideas, terms, and images than it would be a phenomenal paper. This paper talks about the dynamic questioning like method that is received by the Gnutella like distributed system. In this method, the source peer initially sends inquiry bundles towards a couple of neighbors with a little TTL incentive to have an underlying assessment of the fame of the looked through thing. This procedure is iterative and in every cycle; the source peer assesses the quantity of friends to be reached for wanted number of result, computation of TTL for question for sending to the following neighbor lastly spreading inquiry to the following neighbor. When the ideal number of result found the iterative procedure stops. Nonetheless, in this procedure, the idleness can be

Friday, August 21, 2020

Building Your Financial Life Budgeting for Beginners - OppLoans

Building Your Financial Life Budgeting for Beginners - OppLoans Building your Financial Life: Budgeting for Beginners Building your Financial Life: Budgeting for BeginnersOppLoans Monthly Budget GuideThe use of money is all the advantage there is in having it. â€" Benjamin FranklinMaybe you’ve read one too many budget manifestos that promise you can save $1,200 each year by making coffee at homeâ€"but you drive right by a Starbucks on your way to work, and a morning latte makes your 45-minute commute just a little more bearable. Or you’re a happily renting Millennial who doesn’t buy in to the notion that the reason you don’t own a home is that you occasionally order avocado toast.In spite of the sometimes complex emotions surrounding our finances, money is neither good nor bad. It is simply a means for taking care of our needs and fulfilling some of our wants. A comprehensive budget that captures the reality of your life and your finances can provide a roadmap to putting your money to work for youâ€"and ultimately, to using it as a tool to help achieve your goals.Download our budget template to get startedThe first brick in building your financial life is taking time to establish an accurate view of your finances. Basing your budget on actual data, rather than a best guess, will help you create a budget that you can actually live with. Plan to dedicate a block of time to truly dig in to your income and expenses.To start, gather all of the financial information you have available for the last three months: bank statements, credit card bills, pay stubs (if your pay fluctuates), and records of any other regular source of income such as side jobs or child support payments.Using the categories in the budget template as a guide, add or delete any budget items that make sense to you, and begin sorting your expenses into these buckets. No kids or family expenses? Delete that section entirely.   City dweller who takes public transit? Take a close look at transportation. Organize your master budget in a way that reflects how you actually spend your money.Budget WorksheetStep 1: Calculate your total income.What is your total take-home pay each month?If there is a second income earner in your household, such as a spouse/partner or other adult, what is their total take-home pay each month?How much income do you earn from side jobs, such as babysitting, freelance work, driving for a rideshare service, etc.? If this fluctuates from month to month, look at your last three months of earnings to provide an estimate.Do you have any other recurring sources of income, such as child support?Step 2: Categorize your monthly spending.Identify your recurring expenses in each of these categories:Housing Expenses such as rent or mortgage payments, property taxes, and other costs incurred in running a household.Children and Family In 2018, the average cost of raising a child from birth to age 18 was $233,610. Are you spending money on daycare, kids’ sports, or just buying diapers? So. Many. Diapers. Capture family-related expenses here.Transportation Whether you take pu blic transit or have a monthly car payment, think beyond your monthly transit pass or car payment. Make sure to include ongoing expenses like taxis or rideshare services, or your annual car registration fee.Entertainment A night out with friends or a trip to the waterpark with your family, much of your discretionary spending will fall into this category.Medical From health insurance premiums (if not deducted from your paycheck) to prescriptions and co-pays. In addition, think ahead to any dental and vision expenses you anticipate in the coming year.Food How do you spend your money on food? Consider what level of visibility you need in classifying these costsâ€"should you have a separate category for your coffee runs or for workweek lunches?Pets Don’t forget to list the expenses associated with your furry friend.Personal Care Everything from haircuts to your budget for gift giving.Debt One way to approach debt in your monthly budget is to include only minimum payments as recu rring expenses while applying any extra money left at the end of the month to pay down debt. Another option is to set a goal for how much you want to pay towards debt each month.Savings How much are you currently saving, and what are you saving for?Charitable Giving If altruism is a priority for you, be sure to designate a spot for it in your monthly budget.Many banks and credit card companies enable you to download your monthly statement in a convenient spreadsheet. While this can be helpful for tracking expenses month to month, as you establish your master budget, be sure to manually review each item and make sure it is assigned to the correct category.Step 3: Plan for emergenciesâ€"and all that stuff you forgot.Unexpected expenses are often stressfulâ€"perhaps your car suddenly breaks down, or your pet takes a trip to the emergency vet. The last thing you want to think about in the midst of dealing with a crisis is how you are going to pay for everything. Or worse: You could en d up needing a high-cost payday loan or cash advance to cover your bill.Thats why you need an easily accessible emergency fund that can provide significant peace of mind and financial stability during times of crisis.If your emergency fund is currently unfunded, start small. Save $100, then $500, then a month’s worth of expenses, until you have 3-6 months of income stashed away.Additionally, don’t let predictable expenses become emergency expenses. When you create your budget, allocate money for expenses that only come up a few times a year, such as your car registration or purchasing your yearly supply of contact lenses.Step 4: Consider your financial goals.Once you have established your budget categories and organized your expenses, it’s time to step back and take a big picture view.Think about your overall financial goals. Are you looking ahead to retirement? Do you have financial goals for your children, such as sending them to private school or helping them pay college tu ition? Are you saving to buy a house, move into your first apartment, or take a bucket list vacation? And critically, does your current spending and saving reflect these priorities?Write down one to three savings goals and include them in your budget documentâ€"even if you currently have nothing saved towards them. Visibility is key.Step 5: Adjust your discretionary spending.While you will always need a place to live and food to eat, many of the categories in your budget can be adjusted to better reflect your financial targets. When you reviewed your recent spending, were there any surprises? Where did you spend more money than expected? Where does it make sense to cut back?Tracking your expensesNow that you have built a master budget, you will need to maintain it on an ongoing basis. One simple way is with an online tool like Mint or You Need a Budget  which connects to your bank account and credit cards and automatically import your expenses. The major benefit to going digital is that it minimizes the time spent on manual tasks. Additionally, automated tools can be helpful for couples and families who budget together, as they offer increased visibility.To successfully use an automated tool, be sure to log in periodically to review your spending and align transactions to the budget categories you established in your master budget.Some people find it helpful to input expenses manually. While this inevitably takes longer, revisiting each purchase can be helpful in gaining a true understanding of your spending. However, in addition, the risk of human error making the process time-consuming means you may be less likely to sit down and do it.With either method, keep in mind a few important things. Remember to capture any cash outlays, noting how it was spent, so you can properly categorize it. For shopping trips to big box stores like Target and Walmart, be sure to save your receipts. If you spent $25 on groceries and $30 on household goods, you will want to alloc ate that spending to the proper categories.Now what?After one month of tracking your spending, revisit your master budget. Where did your spending exceed your budget? Think about whether this is an area where you need to reduce spending, or simply adjust your budget to more accurately reflect your expenses. Where did you spend less than what you had allocated? Where did this money go instead? Were you able to gain any traction towards your long-term goals?A budget is not like your Instant Potâ€"you can’t set it and forget it. It is essential to check in regularly. As you live with your budget, over time you may discover that your initial estimates need adjusting. And of course, as your life changes, your financial priorities will evolve as well.Once you’ve mastered the basics of a budget, you’ll be ready to level up. In future OppLoans budget guides, we will take a more detailed look at critical topics such as balancing a budget when you and your partner have different financi al styles, and how to find room in your budget to tackle some of your long-term money goals. Do you have a question about budgeting? Let us know! You can find us  on  Facebook  and  Twitter.Visit OppLoans on  YouTube  |  Facebook  |  Twitter  |  LinkedIN  |  Instagram

Monday, May 25, 2020

Education Makes Life Better! Essay - 1034 Words

Acquiring education is one of the most critical aspects of a person’s life. It should be seen as vital as the air we breathe. The key to a healthy mind and a successful person is learning. â€Å"Without education, you’re not going anywhere in this world† is a famous quote by Malcolm X. His quote reiterates that the competitive world makes it essential for us to have a proper education since it will serve as our weapon to conquer the world. Education will help a person grow as an individual because a highly knowledgeable person will have a better grip on handling any problem that comes his or her way. Literacy is the foundation of what we are as individuals. Every decision we make, as well as our thought process, is the basis of what we know.†¦show more content†¦The lack of motivation and family values, as well as student responsibility, has created this crisis in the education system. In addition, insufficient funding of schools along with quality teach ers that are retiring are some of the problems we encounter in the education system. In some parts of the United States, there is a lack of adequate access to materials for reading and writing due to budget constraints. In Allen D. Kanner’s article, â€Å"Today’s Class Brought to You By†¦Ã¢â‚¬  he mentioned that with the baby boomers retiring, and a high turnover among new teachers, who are asked to teach subjects they are not properly trained for, are causing difficult classroom situations (280). Similarly, Governor Jerry Brown’s statement last January 11 pointed out that K-12 education has ‘borne the brunt’ of the state’s budget cuts with more than $18 billion in cuts over the last three years. This resulted in larger class sizes, programs are cut, and over 30,000 educators laid off. These teachers are very valuable in our society because they provide our youth with the knowledge and social experiences that they will use to better their future and the future of the entire world. As a student, I have suffered the consequences of triple digit fee increases and the lack of available classes offered. The high cost of education has put the burden not only on the students, and many of their parents, but educators, asShow MoreRelatedWhy It Is Important to Further a Person Education and Build a Career to Make a Better Life.1368 Words   |  6 PagesWhy it is Important to Further a person education and build a career to make a better life. There are some people, who make it in life without a valuable education, but it is much more important to have an education and further it for a person’s career and he or she’s life in general. This is stated because it is harder to build a career without an education than it is with one. Doing without an education can be one of the biggest challenges in a persons life and may turn out to truly be an experienceRead MoreWhy Is Education Valuable?750 Words   |  3 PagesWhy is Education Valuable? Why is education important in human life? Education has its individual place in human life. Education is important for all human beings to become better human being. Education benefits, human grow their routes. Lacking education, a human cannot do plentiful in their life. It offers skills that benefit in daily life. A human learns something every day out of life. Every day brings a new lesson to learn. We all know a human start learning since they re born. Education is theRead MoreEducation Is An Essential Basis Of A Good Life923 Words   |  4 Pages A college graduated person has a longer and a better life than a person who has not gone to school because education is an essential basis of a good life. According to www.wikihow.com , young men who graduate college statistically live an average 13 years longer than male high school dropouts, Young woman who graduate college statistically live an average of 12 years longer than female high school dropouts, and college graduates wit h a bachelor’s degree earn an average of $1.64 million dollarsRead MoreA Better Future. . â€Å"Education Is The Passport To The Future,1528 Words   |  7 PagesA Better Future â€Å"Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for today†, exclaimed Malcolm X in BrainyQuotes.com. People have very different reasons on why going to college and getting an education is important for them. A college education is one of the key values to one’s successful future by providing a secure pathway into finding a lifetime career. College education does not only help a person get a job, but also teaches he or she how to invest in themselvesRead MoreCollege Education Worth The Cost960 Words   |  4 Pages College Education Worth the Cost What you guys think does College Education Worth the Cost? In the article â€Å"The Wall Street Journal† edited by Riley, she said that a college education does not worth the cost. Again, she claims that most of the colleges are doing their business, they did not care about the student (Riley). Those types of colleges have lack serious core curriculum, they did not know their responsibility towards the student. Moreover, I willRead MoreHaving a College Education1187 Words   |  5 Pagesthought that having a college education is a successful pathway for one’s life development. But what exactly does college education mean? Is college education really worth it? Will having college education really benefit people’s life? According to the online definition, it defines college education as a higher education which is â€Å"an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after secondary education†. By definition, we can understand that college education is the highest stage of learningRead MoreThe Value Of A College Education928 Words   |  4 Pagesvalue of a college education means to me. A higher education will give me many physical benefits such as economic stability, a better quality of life for my family, more career choices, better job security, set a good example for my children at the same time, a college education will also give me many intangible benefits such as boosting my self-confidence, helping me to learn specialized knowledge, thinking critically, bringing me in contact with different people, learning better communication skillRead MoreHigh School Sports Make Student Athletes1599 Words   |  7 Pages High school sports make student athletes strive for better success in their education. Sure some Schools have a minimum G.P.A requirement of 2.0, and to get that all your classes have to be â€Å"C† or better. Well that’s better than letting them have a 1.0 and letting them play. It makes t hem have something worth studying for, For example my friend Bryan Garcia does not like school or work but he is always looking for ways to make his grades better so that he may play with the John F. KennedyRead MoreThe Importance Of A College Education?1419 Words   |  6 Pages101C Professor A.Pino Nov 13th 2017 The importance of a college education In the period of their high school career, the students shall begin to ask and consider the college education’s importance. The answer is that the accepting college education offers chances to graduates, which are more widespread to those who have the levels of senior high education or less. Most of people understand that they desire to accept a college education, but they do not know why or how it would fulfill their livesRead MoreClass Dismissed By Meredith Maran1027 Words   |  5 Pageschildren gain better futures. The author mentions that parents who devote more time and effort are those who believe that schools and education will improve their children’s chances of success. Most of them benefited from education when they were students. In contrast, parents who do not believe schools and education put less effort into their children’s educations. In addition, the author points out that social background determines how much parents devote to their childrenâ €™s educations. The inequalities

Thursday, May 14, 2020

Tobacco Use Among Adolescents And Young Adults - 1287 Words

Introduction Tobacco use among adolescents has been increasing over the years due to marketing strategies that target adolescents and attempt to promote beliefs that influence smoking behaviors. Many of the smoking behaviors are established in adolescents and young adults who are more influenced by exposure to promotional marketing advertisements such as billboards, transit ads, and other strategies that impose acceptable social norms among their peers. According to the CDC, in 2012, 6.7% of middle school students and 23.3% of high school students were currently consuming a variety of tobacco products that included cigarettes, hookahs, smokeless tobacco, and pipes. Also, those who are initially occasional smokers become more likely to continue smoking in the future (CDC, 2012). E-cigarette advertising has also targeted youth tobacco use by increased target rating points 256% from 2011 to 2013 (Duke et al.,2014). The study attributes the trends in smoking to television advertising tha t influence the acceptability of using alternate tobacco products. According to Choi et al (2014), tobacco direct mail marketing was associated an increase in cigarette use among non-smokers and a lower change in smoking reduction among smokers in the sample. Although prior research has been conducted to investigate how tobacco marketing influences smoking behaviors, specific advertising techniques that attracted adolescent consumers were not determined. This study hypothesized that televisionShow MoreRelatedThe Health Behavior Of Tobacco Use Among Adolescents1656 Words   |  7 PagesTobacco Use Among Adolescents Karah Brasher National University Abstract This paper addresses the health behavior of tobacco use among adolescents. There are many risk factors that contribute to this health behavior, as well as risk factors that contribute to the morbidity and mortality of tobacco use among adolescents. Tobacco Use Among Adolescents Over the last decade of two there has been a huge push to end the use of tobacco products such as cigarettes and chewing tobacco. These tobacco productsRead MoreIntroduction. Tobacco Use Throughout The United States1254 Words   |  6 PagesIntroduction Tobacco use throughout the United States has become an epidemic, not only among adults, but among adolescents as well. People do not realize the effects of tobacco or the consequence of using tobacco among the youth and adolescents. What are the leading factors of adolescents using tobacco? Do peers and parents have an influence on tobacco use among adolescents? Throughout this paper I will discuss the effects of tobacco use, the statistics of tobacco use among adolescents, and other influencesRead MoreInfluence Of Tobacco Use. â€Å"The Prevalence Of Current Smoking1162 Words   |  5 PagesInfluence of Tobacco Use â€Å"The prevalence of current smoking among youth is lower than it has been in decades, and the rate of quitting smoking in younger birth cohorts has been increasing. Nonetheless, tobacco use among youth remains a public health problem of substantial importance due to adolescents being the time when most smokers start (Aldrich, Hidalgo, Widome et al., 2015).† About 87% of adults started smoking before the age of 18, while 98% started before the age of 26 (Aldrich, Hidalgo,Read MoreThe Effects Of Cigarette Smoking On Health884 Words   |  4 Pageshealth, there are more than 4 million adults reported as active smokers. In many cases, nicotine addiction began in their adolescent years. The Center for Disease Control has estimated a prevention of 1 million deaths per year and 2 million due to tobacco control and programs shifting the leading cause of death or prevalence onto the youth (quote). Despite the benefits of tobacco control policies such as the excise tax, the nico tine epidemic among adolescents continues to proliferate. The moderatelyRead MoreSmoking Is Harmful Or Harmful? Essay1721 Words   |  7 Pageswho on the verge of quitting that may be helpful. Smoking Ever since the evolution of smoking tobacco, numerous and severe damages in the human body and the society at large have been evidenced. Smoking was for so long regarded an adult thing. But that was a few decades ago. Today, smoking is commonly considered a teen or youth thing. It is no longer strange to find teenagers as young as thirteen experimenting with cigarettes and calling it the day’s hot thing to do. As the side effectsRead MoreTobacco Consumption in Adolescents: A Health Promotion Campaign1263 Words   |  6 Pagesdiscuss the issue of smoking in adolescents from the Australian society. The discussion will include a recent campaign that has been created to cut the morbidity rates of smoking in adolescents from the Western Australian (WA) region. The campaign â€Å"Smarter than Smoking† provided an effective health promotion strategies to reduce tobacco enhancement for adolescents aged 10-15 years old. The essay will provide a better analysis on tobacco consu mption in adolescents. Thus, portraying the potential impactsRead MoreTeen Smoking : Education And Prevention1146 Words   |  5 Pages Teen Smoking: Education and Prevention Virginia Western Community College Jessica Baise Assessment Public Health Problem Tobacco use usually begins during youth and young adulthood. Every day in the United States, more than 3,800 youth under the age of eighteen smoke their first cigarette. (Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults , n.d.) The progress of smoking occasionally to smoking every day is due to the highly addictive drug called nicotine. There are several reasonsRead MoreSocial And Ecological Model Of Public Health1480 Words   |  6 PagesThe social/ecological model of public health is a multilevel system that emphasizes on the linkages among several factors or determinants affecting health from an individual level to a larger social network (Coreil, 2010). This model is organized according to five hierarchical levels of influence: intrapersonal, interpersonal, organizational, community, and society (Coreil, 2010). Intrapersonal level can include biological and psychological factors such as genetics, cognition, and personality; interpersonalRead MoreEffects Of Cigarette Smoking A mong Adult Smokers1264 Words   |  6 PagesAbstract The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services developed a survey for the assessment of cigarette smoking among adult smokers. The assessment showed that there has been a significant decrease/decline in cigarette smoking amongst adults in the year of 2003. The survey proved that fewer adults are smoking in Los Angeles County than if the rate of smoking had remained the same as in previous years. This paper evaluates the findings in the assessment conducted by Los Angeles County DepartmentRead More Adolescents, Mental Health, and Cigarette Smoking Essay1714 Words   |  7 Pagesand adolescents/adolescence. By seeing nicotine as addictive, and therefore an abuseable substance, and understanding the neurological effects nicotine has on the brain, we can see how cigarette smoking is connected to mental health. In adolescents the effect is even more pronounced because their relationships to peers and parents create situations where their mental health is compromised. Nicotine is one of the many chemicals found in cigarettes, and is the primary component in tobacco that

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Security Analysis And It Security Policy Manager At My...

In writing this paper I spoke with Security Analysis and IT Security Policy Manager at my place of employment when researching this paper. They gave me some insightful direction as to the information, where to look for information and the important security issues to reference. Working in IT for the last 10 years I have also had to deal with many of these policies first hand. Additionally, I referenced the PowerPoints presented in class and The CISSP and CAP Prep Guide: Platinum Edition that I purchased and used for the quiz in class. When discussing the topic of information security there are many concepts, elements and topics to discuss. Some of the information to be discussed here are the ten domains of Computer Information Systems†¦show more content†¦This is a company that I made-up just for name sake of this paper. This is not a comprehensive list however will point out some of the more important points. To begin with, any security professional must take in to account the three fundamentals of principles of Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability (CIA) that set the security posture for an organizations information security department. Integrity ensures that unauthorized alteration to information is not made, alterations are not made by unauthorized personnel, and the information is reliable both internally and externally. Confidentiality unauthorized release of information, regardless if the release is internally or externally. Availability for the users to be able to access the data in a consistent and timely manner that will add value to their job is also necessary. The process and choice of classifying information is very important. Data of different types have different values to the owner of the information. Some data may be of more value or critical importance than other data. Certain information is therefore valuable, and if lost could cause great financial loss. Total Layer IT will classify its information using the terms Public, Sensitive, Private, and Confidential based on the information’s value, age, useful life, and personal association. Based upon the business needs certain groups will have access to these various levels of information.

Tuesday, May 5, 2020

The Potential Impact of Grass Fires under High Voltage Power Lines

Question: Describe about the potential impact of grass fires under High Voltage power lines. Answer: Introduction The forest as well as Agricultural areas often crossed by the bare power lines . The control of high amount of flames and dense smoke in the lines vicinity due to air electric strength and in brazil, mexico, canada, USA, south africa, and australia the probability of ground fault was being considered. In the above countries fire in Forest, Grass, Sugar cane /Bush ravage of huge area which often put at risk the reliability of power line. The unusual danger in environment condition of Overhead line and During Persian gulf war Electrical or Electronic equipment were eminent. The outage of line due to occurance of Forest fires ,were seen at poland . The early on studies of fire in the electric field was being worked from malinowski ,haber in the year 1920. The effect of local fire on the air dielectric strength was examined at wroclaw university of technology by Janat . The fundamental study take the machinery response for decreasing the air electrical strength in occurrence of fire. Fur ther guidance for safety of public and Firemen were worked out in considering the fire provoked flashover with a consequence of hazardous situation. Impact The decrese in electrical strength of air under control of flame and smoke can be clarify considering three factors: Air density reduction due to high temperature Electric charge generated by flame Smoke particles Ground fault occures ,when flames crop up in the surrounding area of phase conductor. However smoke might foul the insulators which lead to flashover in the existence of moisture content generate due to fire combating process. This may create hazardous voltage potentials in near by surrounding area of towers. Hence it is desirable to let alone the area of radious within 10 m from the tower position.Frequently , ground faults will not occures if propane gas flames are at 2 m minimum length from phase conductors in case of 500 kV line. However, the safety distance of clearance should be increased ,when flame and intense smokes are combinedly present . For 400 kv line the distance of safety should maintained at a distance of 3 m from the position of phase conductor. When ACSR conductors (aluminum stranded steel reinforced conductors) are being exposed /heated by the fires: mechanical strength of conductor reduced lesser than the new conductor rated value. However Zinc coating on steel strands can be detached and galvanic corrosion should be considered. This tendency of corrosion in Aluminum strands in the inner layer and in bare conductor strand. Forest fire is an significant factor in reduction of durability of ACSR conductors in use. The no of flashover occurred due to Sugar cane fire which was seen hundreds of years ago in the South Africa. One strategies was being used to solve the setback is, the development of a device which detect existence of fire under the possibility of fire flashover. The extreme rise in temperature and float particle generated by the fire near an live line initiate enhancement of Corona discharges,that creates significant rise in level of radio frequency noise wave. To discriminate between radio noise wave generated due to fire, conductors corona discharge and polluted insulators noise due to dry and wet condition of weather . In most of the suitable dry weather , high noise signal generated by fire are being distinguished from the noise produced by the conductors, corona and due to polluted insulators. Occurance of Fire The flashover of fire mechanism air act as an isolated medium because of its dielectric properties between the live conductors and the ground placed below it. During occurance of fire the air properties get changed to smoke particles which filled the desired space between the ground and the transmission lines that could result in electric discharge /flashover that was occurred . That normally refer to a lines fault/ flashovers. During fire induction flashover in power lines is extremely dynamic and complex also. Authors explained the phenomena in different source (sukhnandan , Hoch 2002). To prevent the spread of fire on transmission lines in which early on fire detection data is desired for Bushfire conference occurred in 2006 ,Brisbane 6 to 9 June 2006 which was satellite based primary warn to fires that reduce fire /flashover in transmission lines located and provides additional information basing on the temperature as well as size. In past Eskom lines the manager was follow the i nformation from local residential area about occurrence and position of fire. In Fire underside Transmission lines, the ignition source of fires play an vital role for considering the calculation of fire risk. In Fynbos occurance of fire is 20% and in Kruger National Park the vegetation is 10% which are ignited through natural source like lightning where human play a major origin of fires according to (Bond 1997). Awareness and proper prevention as well as suppression of fire must involve different program of fire management .National Veld as well as forest fire act ( 101- 1998) play an important role in communal involvement for doing well prevention and strategic suppression of fire. Most of the fire burn involved in South Africa cause by different activities which are crop harvesting for example sugar cane, fire break preparation, burn of refuse and arson also. Cultural motive like the conviction , good grass fires will cause good quantity of rains are essential evidence in case of rural areas. Grass fire will exceed amount of bushes and forest fires also, b ut the last are much spectacular and is reported as more extensive in media . From the report that received on fires touching both electrical utility area and commercial forest industries area, fire on grass will frequencies come into view which is higher in case of South Africa than countries like australia - south america and united states(US). In forest area approximately 90 thousand ha in the South Africa was reported 600 fires per year, where as in Australias forest of similar size only 36 fires were traced for same period of time (as Oosthuizen pers comm. of 2003). The fact was confirmed further by report that received from Australian powers utility and TransGrid. Outages that caused by bush fire, few lines outages due to grass fire. Lightning is the main source of power outage. The bushfire outage numbers are analogous to lightning but severe bushfires was only occured around once in every five year. (Turner-pers. comm.-2003). The fire which frequency is of low intensity,i.e. the grass fires in theSouth Africa is very high than the above quoted case quoted. Methodology Adopted to Prevent Fire Methodology of Advanced Fires Information System The Advance Fire Information System methodology (AFIS) was being developed like a service module of Wide Areas of Monitoring Information Systems (WAMIS), that aimed to convey fire informations product to the researchers, the agency of Fire Protection and Disaster managers in all over South Africa will bear the effective decisions maker for monitoring natural fires and manmade fires also. AFIS is the initial close to real time Operational satellite monitoring fires system in South Africa. The architecture of the system was generally based upon MODIS Rapid -Response- Web of Fire Mapping system that developed at (University of Maryland). The CSIR have recently developed the AFIS II that is running basing upon a fully operational compliant architectures(OGC). Multiple satellites utilization The fire detection satellite that perfectly designed, are capable of spoting very small fires over a large area regularly that does not subsist yet. The only choice is making use of recent satellites which is near and middle infra- red spectral band for detection of fires. Polar orbit satellites has the gain of detecting undersized fires but at a very minimum overpass frequencies, while the geostationary satellites has the advantage of regular views over a large area (with in every 15 minutes with the MSG), where as with a very low resolution, it can only detect large quantity of fires. For making use of the benefit of high resolution image(MODIS) and regular view from the MSG, two satellites sensor has been united within AFIS. Polar Orbiter (MODIS) The two satellites MODIS are the polar orbit, that moving around North and Southern Poles of each and every 98 minutes at the time when the earth is rotating from the west to the east. The Terra scan in the South African regions between 10 to 11:30 am where as Aqua scan in afternoons between the time of 14:00 to 15:30 pm. Each of the present satellite also scan the region at the time of night (i.e.Terra at time -22:00 pm and the Aqua at- 03:00 am). Validation of the result indicate , many amount of biomes with the minimum flaming (between800-1000K) fire dimension typically visible at 50% probability with the MODIS is in the order 100m (Giglio L.- et al.- 2000). Geostationary ( MSG) A geostationary satellite MSG is that scans the Africa continent in every 15 minutes in the direction south to north . The biggest restriction is the coarse resolutions that limits the detection of minute fires. Validation for the minimum Bush-fires conference occurred in( 2006) Brisbane: 6 to 9 June( 2006) that Provide satellite based early on warning of the fires that reduce the fire flashovers in South African transmission line detectable fire of size for the MSG in South Africa is now currently being for research. Validation in USA on a similar satellite was shown a detectable size i.e. in a region of 500m but angle of scan, Biome,position of sun , temperature of land surface , cloud covering, amount of smokes and winds direction that should be the last determination factor (Prins- et al.- 2001). The percentage of fires detected by AFIS before the fire flashover had occurred. Guidelines for Safety Fires occure under the power lines may cause the mid-span of flashovers with a consequent risky step of potential. During the fire fighting activity the guiding standard for safety issues of the firemen are to be follows: The action of fire fighting is in the area of operational power lines (without line de-energization) and is permitted if : the fire that not get to the ground affected areas underneath the wire, the burning of fire under the wire the gaps present between the wire and also in the top of the flame i.e. larger than 3 m length(which is valid for a line of 400 kV ) If the fire of high flame is being detected in direct area of operational line, whose utility is to be called for de-energize the affected lines of power . For a period when the line get energized, the unsafe steps potential zones should be assessed based on the table no 1. The area of reach that within 10 m from the towers should be let alone at all the times to defend against the risks of the flashovers of the insulators under wet and polluted environment that generated due to the flames,fire fighting and dense smokes. The electrical as well as mechanical deterioration of the lines conductors which are to be taken into consideration. Safety Advice near Power Line Safety advices for the fires near the power lines ,for safety, at the time when there are fires closed to the powerline that remember: Keeping the personnel, vehicle and the attachment with a distance of at least 25m from powerline. Electricity, particularly at a high voltage can be jump across an air gap of several metres . This may means that, the direct contact with high voltage wires will not mandatory for producing a potentially lethal result. Smoke can be act as conductors. Fires that burning on / near the powerline region can significantly increased the scope of flashover occurance. Dont count up on the rubber tyres of vehicles to stop flashover from happening. Wires present on the powerlines can sag to lower end in times of maximum demand, higher temperature and high spread of fire, reduction of ground clearance level. Dont build up stocks, windrow or mound combustion material under a high voltage lines. Exercise of cautions if use of powerlines easements for the access of fire locations as convenient firebreak and as a split from commence of back burning operation or a protection areas in firestorm. Research on Fire Protection Electric fence system in urbanised environment- That is initially published in year1832, Chapter no 7 ofDomestic Manners- of -Americansby the authorFanny - Trolope whodescribes a pattern of wires which are connected with electric machines that used to look after a display i.e. called as dorfeuille's Hell in natural historyinCincinnati, western museumwhich was invented by her which waspublished in year 1870, Chapter no- 22 ofJules- Verne's20000 Leagues- Under- the -Seas,it will describes the Lightning- Bolt of Captain- Nemo i.e. electrification structure act as a suspicious weapon. that published in year1889,Mark Twain's novels A Connecticut- Yankee in- King- Arthur's- Court, use of an electric fence for the defensive purpose. David Wilson obtained US exclusive rights 343,939 in year 1886, combined protection, alarm bells and telephonic communications. He was constructed a 30-mile electric fence as experiment that energized by water wheeling in 1888, but it was not unbeaten. In the year 1905,the Russian army were improved the electric fences during theRusso and Japanese -warsat the Port of Arthur. In the year of 1915, during (World War- 1),the Germany army was mounted a Wire- of -the- Deathe. an electric fence that accompanied by a border line between Belgium -Netherlandsthat prevent illegal movement of public across the border areas. This fences cover 300 km , that consist of various strand of Copper wires, which backed with a barb wire and that energize thousand volts. An estimate of 3,000 human wounded were caused due the fence as well as there was destruction due to live stocks. Electrical fences that were used for the control of live stockin the US in early years 1930 and electrical fence technique to develop both the US andNZ. Early applications of the electric fences for livelystock controling was being developed in 1936 to1937 by NZoriginatorBill Gallagher.That built from a car ignitedtrembler coils, Gallagher was used a device that keep the horse from the scratch against car. Gallagher in later was started for improving and marketing the design.In 1962, a New Zealand inventors, doug Phillips invented the non-short able electrical fence i.e.which based on capacitance discharge.That considerably increase the range of electric fences that could used from few hundred metres 35km and that reduce the cost of fence more than 80%.The non-short able electric fences that implemented by Phillips by 1964 was pretend by different plastic products in NZ firms Waikato- of- Electric- Fence. The above ideas were being replaced by ceramic with the plastic insulator. Different varieties of plastic insulator are used on farms all over the world . By the year1939,a public safety of concerns in the US was impelled theUnderwriters' - Laboratoriesfor the publishment of a bulletin on electrical shock from an electric fence,that leads to ANSI/UL level of standard No- 69 for the electric fences controllers. In year of 1969 ,Robert- B. Cox, who is a farmer of Adams Countys , Iowas , that was invented with an improved electric fences brackets and was being issued in United States of Patent No- 3-516-643 on the date June 23rd, 1970. The bracket that improved the electrical fences that keeps the wire as high enough and above ground and is far enough from the fences to permit the grass and the weeds that breed near the wires to be shear. The brackets that attached to posts by that may be known as Pivot -binds or the torsion-lock. The weights of bracket , the append insulators and the electrical wires that attached to insulators to the bind of the brackets to post. Electrical fences have been enhanced considerably over years. The improvements includes: Poly-ethyleneinsulatorreplace theporcelaininsulator, in the begin of Poly-ethylene is much more cheaper as compared to porcelain and is also less breakable. Improvements of electric designs of fences energizer are often known as "charger" (i.e.USA) , "fencer" (in UK). Changes of In case of some authority, with certain types of electric output for fence were illegal from ( 1950s /1960s). In another areas, signage required and other possible restrictions that are limited by the usabilities. Many of the US cities that continues in having obsolete laws that prohibits electric fence to avoid agricultural fence from the entering cities . Houston of Texas for an example will changed the order which prohibit electric fence in year 2008. Introduction of a highly tensile (HT steel) fences wire in year 1970s in NZ and in 1980s in United States(US). Beginning of a synthetic webb and a rope like fence material that woven with a fine conductive wire. Designing of a moveable fences component, likeTumblewheel. References Lanoie, R., Mercure, H.P.(1989). Influence of forest fire on power line insulation (paper 30.06 ,6th Int). New Orleans: Symposium on High Voltage Eng. Vosloo, W.L., Holzhausen ,J.P., Britten, A.C.(1991). Journal Electrochemical Society: WIDLICKI Z , Wrocaw Distribution Utility: private information . Research into the detection of fires under high voltage lines ,paper 41.12, 7th Int. (1992, july). The Kuwait environment and its effects on electronic materials and components , pp. 2058-2066 . Lawton, J., Weinberg, F.J. (1964). Proc. of the Royal Society.Maximum ion currents from flames and the maximum practical effects of applied electric fields, vol. 277 A, pp. 468-497 [6]. Janat, M.(1991). Ph. D. thesis: Wroclaw University of Technology. Influence of localized flame on dielectric strength of air Mousa, A.M.( 1990 jan). IEEE Trans. on power delivery. Protecting fireman against fire-induced flashovers, pp. 297-302 [8] . Fialkov, A.B., HOMANN , K.H. (2001 Nov). Combustion and Flame: WEST H.J.Large molecules, ions, radicals, and small soot particles in fuel-rich hydrocarbon flames part VI: positive ions of aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons in low-pressure premixed flame of nbutane and oxygen, pp. 2076-2090 . Mulan, D.W. Mc.(1978). IEEE-PES Winter Power Meeting: New York 1978.Fire induced flashovers of EHV transmission lines, paper A 73-047-2 [10] . Avila , J.L, Robledo,A.Martinez.(2001). Symposium on High Voltage Eng: ISH Bangalore .Effect of polarity on DC flame breakdown. , pp. 310-313.Int. Xiang, Hu, Jiazheng,Lu , Xiangjun, Zeng, Hongxian, Zhang.(2010). Journal of Elec1ric Power Science And Technology. Analysis on transmission line trip caused by mountain fire and discussion on tripping preventing measures.

Wednesday, April 8, 2020

Art History Through the 19th Century Essay Example

Art History Through the 19th Century Essay Artists have forever been able to take us to places where we have never been or would like to go. They can make our fantasies come alive on the canvas and transport our thoughts to far off places. Real life is often harder to paint because you are bound by reality and your audience is not always willing to face it. Therefore, the artists that can paint reality but connect it in some way to our fantasies are the ones that truly understand the power of art. Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres painted the Grand Odalisque in 1814 during the Romantic era of France. He uses a classical linear style and narrates morality, which is referred to as a poussiniste technique. France at the time was fascinated with the orient and other far off places and politically involved with Turkey and Africa. The erotica of this painting captured them and took them where one’s imagination could take control and forbidden things could be explored. Ingres uses a classically influenced body on the female with the volumetric, softly lit, warm skin that is revealed to the viewer. Her reclining pose is one so familiar to the art world and obviously referencing the earlier masterpieces Ingres studied during his life. He has idealized the woman’s shape by elongating her back and softening her curves. ( If you can mention elongated poses were often used because long limbs on a woman was considered ideal beauty. There is also a name for this kind of pose but I cannot think of it. Commonly found in mannerism but that was like 1520-1600, and was High Renaissance. That might help you find the term. High Renaissance features elongated, contorted poses, crowded canvases, and harsh lighting and coloring. We will write a custom essay sample on Art History Through the 19th Century specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Art History Through the 19th Century specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Art History Through the 19th Century specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer You could use that to compare) Her face portrayed as more like those of the Renaissance, (nice you picked up on that) idealized, as well and looking straight out at the viewer. She is doing what the concubines did best, inviting us in to her private scene. With Mannerist (good) and Venetian colors, the background fabrics are cool and highly detailed to contrast the warmth and smoothness of the woman’s skin. Ingres’ hyper real details throughout the scene only help sell the illusion that this is something that could be in real life. The props placed in this harem complete the erotica of the scene and add symbolic reference to the romantic scene. A pipe is placed to the side symbolizing the euphoric atmosphere. The Odalisque holds a peacock fan in her hand and sensually brushes it against her upper thigh. The jeweled turban and gold bracelets are characteristic of the orient and add to the focus of her nude body. With all the erotic reference and symbolism the viewers were able to peek at a forbidden and immoral scene without having to confront the subject of sex. I remember this one and it was consider a Oriental nude, which in those times the idea of sex was lessen he does by showing orient artifacts the fan the turban placing her in orient setting was exploiting women trapped in their own closed world. She gases as if tired broken and worn down. ) Manet was a painter of the Realism era that referenced Ingres’ Grand Odelisque with his Olympia, painted in 1865. This painting is considered to be the very f irst truly modern painting. Here we have the reclining female nude again, but this time it is portrayed as never before. Much like the Odelisque, Olympia is a nickname of some of the prostitutes of the time. However, Olympia is an actual portrait of Victorine Meurent, a local French prostitute. Manet has not simply painted a female nude as so many before him, but instead he has taken it a step further and painted this female naked. This painting is closely modeled after the Venus of Urbino from Venice because of the position of the figure and the composition of the scene. Even though there are some large differences, Olympia has most in common with Ingres’ Odalisque. Both paintings show the figures with some ornaments and accessories on their nude bodies. Manet chose to put more focus on the fact this his woman was purposefully naked by leaving a ribbon on her neck and by having one of her slippers be carelessly dangling off her foot. He places an exotic orchid in her hair, which is considered erotic and sexual and a black cat at the foot of the bed the represents promiscuity. A clever opposite of the Venus of Urbino’s dog placed at the end of the bed for fidelity. Line was very important to Manet as it was to Ingres. His color patch technique and hard light earned more critisism for Manet. The Salon said that his figure looked flat and un-modeled, but Manet wasn’t trying to portray an ideal feminine embodiment. He was trying to show us the scene as it was seen it in real life. This was a look into another forbidden scene of fantasy except with the reality of the current indulgers. Unlike the Odalisque Olympia was not received by the public as a glimpse into forbidden pleasures, instead she was looked at as a public display of France’s immorality. While some critics labeled the painting as pornography, the crowds were very intrigued by Olympia and came in rushes to see her when she was finally displayed. This was not meant to through France’s moral faults at her but to capture the way she was at the time, life without idealistic cover-up. Although the people of France were disgusted that Manet would want to capture a prostitute, they were more appalled at her haughty gaze towards them. She was the one in control and the critics were not used to that kind of mood. Society was undergoing revolutions in the industrial, intellectual and working classes so control was a big concern. Realist painters like Manet were more concerned with making the everyday subjects be acceptable in art instead of playing to the ideal. I chose to write about these works because of the effect they had on me the first time that I saw them in this class. The Grand Odalisque was stunning and made me want to creep into the picture. It’s a beautiful work with captivating detail. Olympia was my favorite from this half of the semester class. She stares at you so matter of fact and as if to beg you to challenge her. Her small frame is so different from the voluptuous models seen so many times before. I think that the two offer a very intriguing comparison and are worthy of recognition. Both Ingres and Manet painted the reclining female nude, one as a concubine and the other as a prostitute. They focused the lighting on their figures and were concerned with the use of line. Although the detail that Ingres used did not match the brushwork of Manet, they still were both obviously concerned with symbolism. The biggest difference between the Grand Odalisque and Olympia is in how they were received by the public. Ingres harem was from somewhere far away in an exotic land where this scene was supposedly acceptable. The viewers were invited into the scene as bystanders and able to indulge the fantasies with imaginations of that place. Manet’s bedroom scene was just like the one that everyone had at home and very familiar. As the viewer you are locked into the gaze of the female as if you were there for her. She makes you part of the scene instead of a bystander. Your fantasies of her are laid out in plain view and reminding you of the current socially unacceptable prostitution taking place. Ingres was a master of fantasy and used hyper-detail to fake reality, but Manet could paint reality and connect it to the fantasies that we indulge in our everyday life. This association that Manet mastered between the fantasy world and the actual world makes anything possible for the viewer, and that is the true power of art.

Monday, March 9, 2020

Tobias Smollett Biography Essays - Picaresque Novels, Free Essays

Tobias Smollett Biography Essays - Picaresque Novels, Free Essays Tobias Smollett Biography Tobias George Smollett (1721-1771), Scottish novelist, was born in Dalquhurn, Dumbarton County Scotland. Smollett was born beneath a plane tree at Dalquharn House on the family estate of Bon hill in the Vale of Leven, near the village of Renton, Dumbartonshire. At fourteen Smollett was apprenticed to a Glasgow doctor. He studied medicine at Glasgow University and moved to London in 1740. He was a ship's surgeon in the Carragena expedition against the Spanish in the West Indies, and lived in Jamaica until 1744 when he returned to London and renewed his earlier attempts to stage a play he had written The Regicide, but still met with no success. He also failed to set up his own medical practice. His first novel, the partly autobiographical Roderick Random (1748), was an immediate success. His best novel, The Expedition of Humphry Clinker (1771), has become a classic. It is a story, told in a series of letters, about the travels of a family through England and Scotland. Smollett was troubled by lack of money. He spent his last years in poor health, and died in Livorno, Italy, on October 21, 1771. Two years later, Johnson and Boswell stayed at Cameron House with Smollett's cousin James, who was preparing to erect a Tuscan column in Smollett's memory at Renton. Johnson helped compose the Latin obituary on the plinth, and the column stood in what subsequently became the playground of a school. Some of Tobias Smollett's work consists of The Tears of Scotland (1746). Poem on the defeat of the Scots at the Battle of Culloden. The Adventures of Roderick Random ( 1748 ). Gil Blas. Translation of LeSage's novel. ( 1749 ). The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle ( 1751 ). The Adventures of Ferdinand, Count Fathom ( 1753 ). Don Quixote. Translation of Cervantes' novel. ( 1755). The Adventures of Sir Lancelot Greaves ( 1760 ). Travels through France and Italy ( 1766 ). The History and Adventures of an Atom ( 1769 ). The Expedition of Humphrey Clinker ( 1771 ). Some critics regard Tobias Smollet as more satirist meaning that a work of literature or art that, by inspiring laughter, contempt, or horror, seeks to correct the follies and abuses it uncovers. I don't know what that means though. This is a paragraph from Tobias Smollett's book The Adventures of Roderick Random. Roderick Random is the orphaned, unwanted grandson of a severe old Scots magistrate, exposed by his grandfather's known neglect to the malice of the community. His principal enemies are the schoolmaster and the young heir. It is not long before a deus ex machina appears in the form of a sailor uncle: He was a strongly built man, somewhat bandy-legged, with a neck like that of a bull, and a face which had withstood the most obstinate assaults of the weather. His dress consisted of a soldier's coat, altered for him by the ship's tailor, a striped flannel jacket, a pair of red breeches japanned with pitch, clean grey worsted stockings, large silver buckles that covered theree-fourths of his shoues, a silver laced hat whosecrown overlooked the brim about an inch and a half, a black bob wig in buckle, a check shirt, a silk hankerchief, a henger with a brass handle girded on his thigh by a tarnished laced belt, and a good oak plant under his arm. I picked this paragraph because here Smollett is describing the hero of the story Roderick Random. I believe it is important to have a brief if not full description of characters, so that you can imagine seeing them maybe even being there, in your mind, while they are doing what is described in the book.

Saturday, February 22, 2020

Educational Excellence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Educational Excellence - Essay Example The area of improvement encompasses mathematics. The data was compared between those who were born in 1983 and those born in 1997. When 20 students of the 4th grade born in 1983 were examined for proficiency in reading and writing, only 6 were found to be proficient while 20 students born in 1997, when examined for similar proficiency 7 students were found to be proficient in reading. The area showed less improvement (US Department of Education: A Nation Accountable). When 1983 born 4th class students were observed for proficiency in mathematics, only 4 were found to be proficient. Students born in 1997, when examined for proficiency in mathematics 8 out of 20 were found to be proficient in mathematics. Indicating that proficiency in mathematics increased two-fold. On close observation it is observed that 20 children born in 1983, entered school in 1988, of these 20, 14 graduates on time in 2001, of these 14, 10 started college but by 2007 only 5 could earn their degrees (US Department of Education: A Nation Accountable). California has shown very poor improvement when compared to other states of United States. According to 2005 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), California stands seventh lowest in 8th grade mathematics when compared with other states of USA. When their competitive spirit was calculated, California was at the bottom quarter. The students of 8th grade when compared for their reading skills they were the third lowest and just above the Hawaii and Columbia. The Californian students were poor in science they stand second lowest and just above the Mississippi. Indicating the education excellence could not meet the perfection in California (States vs. Countries in Math). According to the NY Times, Massachusetts shows maximum of 51% of mathematics proficiency, as compared to California which has 24 percent of proficiency in mathematics when students from eighth-grade were compared between various states and different

Wednesday, February 5, 2020

Is Assuming the Role of Citizen Journalist Worth the Risk Essay

Is Assuming the Role of Citizen Journalist Worth the Risk - Essay Example This facility of communicating information on various events has been made possible for the people, by the Internet. Before the invention of the internet, professional reporters used to be the only ones reporting information on current events. But the Internet and other forms of media, has allowed regular citizens to do the same. (Tony Rogers).  Citizen journalism, as far as blogging and writing different articles is concerned, does not seem to hurt anyone and only portrays the freedom of speech that has been granted to the people. But making videos of incidents such as a fire or a car crash can be pretty dangerous. Some people involved in such accidents seem more concerned with recording the event in any way than to get to safety or helping other to reach a safe point. For example, such an event took place when there was some problem with an airplane and an emergency landing had to be done. A passenger on the airplane named Eddie Ho was caught taking pictures and making a video of the emergency evacuation being done by the airport authorities. His actions did not please the authorities at all, and he was reprimanded by the chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, that his job was to get out of the plane safely and help others in evacuating as quickly as possible. During such events, amateur reporting or making videos is not praised but criticized. At the same time, when the investigators acknowledged the pictures taken by Eddie, saying that they could be valuable during the inquiry, they also stated that even pausing for a minute during such situations can be detrimental for the person himself and the other people. They recommend that the wisest thing to do is for the people to get to safety and not worry about taking pictures or videos, which might or might not be helpful.  

Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Presidents and Governors Powers

Presidents and Governors Powers The presidency and governance have more in common when it comes to its history that what you can see in a first glance, few are the people that actually compare the two and draw parallels between the two without looking for it or discuss it beforehand. When we look at its history both come from a place where what they were looking for was independence and how the government works nowadays is a direct result of that, when the United States obtained independence the founders focus their efforts into creating a Constitution that would not follow the lead of other countries, but it would create a new system that work for them, the first constitutions were much less organized, it granted less responsibilities and power than the ones that came after it. The Texas constitution, in the other hand, was in control of Spain at first and then of Mexico, until it independence was achieved, their constitution reflected the several paths they had to take in order to become independent not only by name, but what it has in common with the US constitutions is the desire behind it to create an actual independent system that worked for them and do not adapt it from other country, having as a result the creation of an executive that the world has never seen (George et al, 398). Over the years the necessity of have a more efficient constitution would lead to the continuous amendment of it. In order to serve you should have certain qualifications to be eligible to the presidency or governance, both have very clear requirements that must fulfil, one of the most important is to be an US citizen by birth, if what you are looking for is to be the governor of Texas then you must be a legal citizen, but it does not matter if you become a citizen instead ofÂÂ   being born here and the time that you have been a citizen does not influence, in Texas a naturalized citizen can become the governor regardless of the time the person has been a citizen, but if you want to run for the United States presidency then you must be a citizen by birth, although there has been debates of what that constitutes since many have argue the if the child meet the legal requirements for US citizenship at the moment of birth then is regarded as a US citizenship by birth, one of the case could be that the parents are US citizens so their child is entitle to the citizenship. Since someone could be a citizen, but have not been most of their lives in the US a state citizenship is require, if you want to run for the governance of Texas, then you must have live at least five years in the state of Texas, but you would have a better chance if you have live there more than ten years. When it comes to the presidency, like it was previous mentioned, someone may be an US citizen by birth, but had never live here, so the candidate should have been living here for at least fourteen years. The last qualification that you are require to fulfill is to be age appropriate, for the governance in the state of Texas you should be at least thirty years old, while for the presidency you should be thirty-five to qualify, this is in order to have an experienced and mature person in the job. As we can see the presidency is slightly stricter regardless of qualification than the Texas governance, but Texas is one of the states that comes closer to it since in comparison to other states, since Texas has more clear and specific requirements to meet than others. When it comes to compare, the power granted to the presidency and governance there are very similar, both have little executive power is even consider weak. In both cases this lack of power is done in purpose, since the abuse perpetuated by past executives the checks and balances was established in the Texas governance and the presidency. In the presidency, the way power is used has been evolving thanks to the presidents themselves, they have been expanding responsibilities and resources which has led them to have more power than the constitution allows. According to the constitution one of the functions of the president and the governor is to enforce the law, in order to so the constitution allow the president to be able to appoint cabinet jobs and agency chiefs, but the governor has to work alongside those who the electoral also choose, leaving the governor working with people who may not be supporters of his policies or values, while the president is free of choosing his cabinet thus allowing him a better work environment and in a better position than the Texas governor when it comes to establishing policies, the president is the definite authority when it comes to the final decision of a cabinet discussion, which puts his cabinet as one of advisers instead of executives, the Texas governor does not have that luxury in order to pass any legislation he must convince or pass a bill that fits the beliefs of the senate. The reason why the Texas governance is weakened compare to the presidency is historical and it begun with the Texas Constitution of 1876 due to the reconstruction after the Civil War, after it the constitution was amendment a numerous time which ended up making it the second longest in the country, uses very specific languages in polices that were previously abused, while as seem as whole the constitution becomes hard to understand with the vocabulary used at the time and the refusal of the framers to create the constitution in a slower pace and in good quality presentation. Nowadays it is impossible for the governor to claim he or she does not know what his or her constituents want, with social media citizens make their voices be heard, so in order to improve the role of the governor hearing the people is always the beginning. The reelection option was made in order to motive the public serves to do better in order to be reelected, this may be a negative thing since instead of doing was its best for the state, they take decisions according how much it will help their chances to be reelected, this is also true when it comes to the senate and the house since the electoral chooses their serves, passing or creating bills can become a game in which if the person with the contrary belief win, it would be a lost to the others, when they should be worrying about what is best in general and not what seems to look better for one or the other party. In conclusion, while the two of these jobs evolve into lack of power, the presidency has more power than the Texas government, because while it does have a history with independence the repercussion were major in Texas, while in the presidency is more balanced, the president is allow to choose the head of the departments having an advantage since they would likely agree with him and otherwise his work has more weight than the others, the governor has to work extremely well with others, who also have different opinions, stances and beliefs. Works Cited Henson, J. R. (2016). Texas politics. 3rd ed. Asheville, NC: Soomo Learning. Available from hNp://www.webtexts.com Edwards III, And George, C. Chapter 13. The Presidency. American Government. Pearson Education

Monday, January 20, 2020

Symbolism in Fuentes Aura Essay -- Carlos Fuentes, Aura Essays

On the surface, Fuentes' Aura is a very strange and eerie book. It draws you in and keeps you there, forcing you to read the book to its very end. Just below the surface, a world of symbolism, words and parallels lead to a greater understanding of what is happening throughout this captivating tale. Skimming the surface of the story, an abundance of symbols can be signaled out, but a recurrence of symbols is very important. One of the most prevalent symbols found in this story is the darkness of Senora Consuelo's old colonial mansion. The house is so dark the characters must learn to maneuver by sound and touch. The darkness sets the tone for the whole story. Senora Consuelo's room is not bathed in light but filled with "perpetual shadows". Of course darkness and shadows are a staple of the Gothic, but darkness could also be suggestive of the unknown or not being able to think clearly. Shadows could be interpreted as that which is clouded, hard to grasp, or just beyond clear vision. Did the darkness and shadows contribute to Felipe?s state of mind and make him more susceptible to Senora Consuelo's will? The rooms where the action of a story takes place are also very important. Some the rooms used in the book are bedrooms, the dining room, the parlor, and the enclosed garden patio. The first room we see inside of this old house is the garden patio. This room is interesting because the smell from the patio is always associated with the title character. Felipe looks for her in this garden; he smells the patio plants in her hair. Symbolically, the garden can be associated with the mind, with the unconscious, or it may give you clues to your own inner state. The plants, flowers, and fruit found in the garden may also enhance t... ...book. These symbols and recurrences are not coincidental or superficial, but upon investigation, give deeper insight into how deeply the mindset of our main character was affected. We now know that Felipe had almost no choice and was lulled into this household. Then there is a plausible explanation about the true relationship between Aura and Senora Consuelo. This book turns out to be a very strange life/death cycle that still leaves questions that need to be answered. Work Cited Fuentes, Carlos. Aura. Trans. Lysander Kemp. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1981. Fuentes, Carlos. "Worlds Apart." Modernism/Postmodernism. Ed. Peter Brooker. London: Longman, 1992. 244-46. Gillespie, Kathleen " A literary Legend Speaks ? Carlos Fuentes at the Askwith Education Forum" 1 de Diciembre de 2003 http://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/featrures/fuentes12012000.html

Sunday, January 12, 2020

Envy is a Sin

As all emotions, envy is socially constructed. Individual interaction, class variation and social institutions like schools, family, religion, and politics define envy for us. Envy is dependent on the beliefs about wealth, status, power, and how they ought to be distributed. In less complex societies envious objects are food, babies, and health; but in more complex societies they are wealth, status, and power. Envy, which is often mislabeled as jealousy, is hostility towards superiors. In an unequal situation, or comparison the envious has, not a mere wish, but a malicious wish that the other would lose his advantage (Foster, 1972:167). Though condemned in all cultures and repressed in nearly every individual, envy has a function in society. Schoeck points out that envy is almost a taboo-topic in daily conversation, in research, and in literature. This condemning and repression is what allows envy to work. Envy in excess of that minimum is a surplus, which can do more harm than good (Schoeck, 1970:348). In societies where envy is high productivity is low and where envy is low productivity is high. Envy is our drive for innovation and competition, though if not controlled causes poverty and revolutions. Management of envy is key to social order. In order to minimize envy we must always rationalize our inequalities through modest statements such as; â€Å"Luck†, â€Å"God†s will†, and â€Å"hard work†, which date back through the history of the Greeks, Roman Catholic Church, and the Protestant Work Ethic. Although possibly the rich are wealth addicts, thriving on the envy of others, and the rest are all closet addicts fooled into believing that they will one day be rich too (Slater, 1980:16).

Friday, January 3, 2020

Evaluation of business and financial performance of goldcorp - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 22 Words: 6502 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Argumentative essay Did you like this example? Most of the tools and methods which are required to be used in this research thesis are detailed in several papers of ACCA curriculum. However, after learning those tools, I did little to practice and apply them in real world scenarios. This research report provides me with an opportunity to apply those tools and methods to a practical company. I believe that by pursuing this topic of research, I would gain a deep understanding of a companys financial reporting procedures and methods. This will help me a lot in my future professional life as a qualified accountant. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Evaluation of business and financial performance of goldcorp" essay for you Create order The Industry and Company The industry which I chose for my research work is the gold mining industry. Mankind has been mining gold as early as the first millennium BC. Today, the industry has become a multi-billion dollar cash cow and many large corporations from around the world are its participants. The company I am researching for my work is Goldcorp Inc. Based in British Columbia, Canada, Goldcorp is one of the largest gold producers in the world with 16 operations and development projects in 6 countries (citation from Wikipedia). In 2009 alone, the company managed to produce about 2.42 million troy ounces of gold and earned topline revenues of about $2.7 billion (citation). Reasons for Selecting Goldcorp I selected Goldcorp as my primary research company due to the following reasons: As stated above, Goldcorp is one of the largest gold producers in the world and is a key player in the gold mining and extraction industry. I believe researching a market leader in one of the oldest industries in the world can be both exciting and informative. The company fits the definition of a global company. It has operations in more than 6 countries. Researching a global company will help me understand the effects of global economy on a multi-national concern. I think that can be very useful knowledge for my career progression. Gold has been one of the most important safe havens of investment since the economic crisis hit the developed nations in the mid-2007. Analyzing the effects of volatile gold prices on gold extraction companies can be an interesting case for research. The Competitor In order to research and analyze a companys financial and business performance, it is essential to compare it with a suitable competitor. The company which I chose to compare with Goldcorp is Barrick Gold Corporation. Barrick Gold is another leader in the gold mining industry. The company is also based in Canada and has produced nearly 7.7 million ounces of gold. The revenues of Barrick Gold in the year ending December 2009 were nearly $8.1 billion. Objectives of the Research The primary objective of this research thesis is to analyze the financial performance and position of Goldcorp Inc. I will analyze various financial aspects of the company like profitability, liquidity, financial risk and investment view. Financial data for the past three financial years will be used to evaluation the performance. After the analyze of the financial situation, I will recommend whether the company is a good investment choice or not. The secondary objective of the research work is to analyze the companys business performance. This will be done by analyzing the effects of the global economy and various industrial factors on Goldcorp. The effects of various forces which influence the competitiveness of the company will also be studied in detail. Research Methodology I will use various tools and methods to complete my research objectives. In order to carry out the financial analysis, I will primarily use financial ratios. Various ratios will be calculated using a Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet and I will use them to perform a trend analysis of the companys performance for the past three years. I will also compare the most recent financial ratios of Goldcorp with its key competitor to make a judgment with regards to its financial performance and position. For the business analysis, I will use strategic business models. The strengths and weaknesses of the company will be analyzed using the infamous SWOT Analysis. Further, I will also use Michael Porters Five Forces framework to identify the effects of the key industrial forces on the performance of Goldcorp. Information Gathering Collection of information is one of the most important parts in any research work. The quality of research being done highly depends on the information which is used for the research. Information sources are of various types and they provide various qualities of information. Majorly, sources of information are categorized in two general types: Primary Sources Secondary Sources Primary Sources These sources of information contain the firsthand account of events, transactions, occurrences, experiments, etc. Naturally, primary sources of information are generated for a specific purpose and are highly reliable. In a business report like this one, primary source of information can be interviews with company officials, questionnaires and email correspondence with relevant staff members of the subject company. Despite being reliable and accurate, sometimes primary sources of information can be biased. Secondary Sources These sources of information contain secondhand accounts of events and transactions. Secondary sources are generally less reliable than the primary sources, mainly because they are generated for different purposes. Examples of secondary sources include business journals and newspapers, internet and companys annual reports including financial statements. In my thesis, I mainly used secondary sources of information. I ensured that the data I use is reliable and accurate. Following table shows the information sources I used for the collection of information: Sources Use of Information Source Collection Technique Annual Report (2009, 2008 and 2007) of Goldcorp Inc. and Barrick Gold Corporation I used the annual reports of both the companies extensively during my research. They provided me not only with the financial statements, which were used to calculate the ratios, but also with a great deal of information about the companies operations and its financial performance. I downloaded the annual reports of both the companies from their respective websites (the investor section). I saved pdf copies of the reports and also printed out certain pages (like the financial statements) which I used a lot. Websites of Goldcorp and Barrick Gold Corporation In the information age, the usefulness of websites can never be ignored. I used the official websites of both companies for various purposes. I got various statistics about the companies from their sites, like the amount of gold reserves they hold, etc. While I surfed the websites, I wrote every piece of important information in a separate word file along with the links to the page in which the information was present. This helped me to re-visit the page when required and also in the preparation of my List of References. Reuters.com I used this website extensively to do preliminary research the companies. Reuters has tons of information on companies like their recent share prices, summarized financial statements, latest articles and news, etc. I downloaded various pieces of information from Reuters to use in my project. This includes the company overviews as well as the relevant news articles. Google Finance Google Finance is a very user-friendly website. I used this site to primarily see market capitalizations of the companies, find about the competitor companies, watch share price charts, etc. The company pages on Google finance are very dynamic and they change all the time. Therefore, I bookmarked the relevant company pages on my browser and visited them every now and then to update myself. Online Newspapers Editions One of the most important sources of information I used in this research were the online newspaper articles. Newspapers like New York Times, Telegraph, Wall Street Journal, etc. had very interesting articles on my subject companies. These helped me a lot in knowing various facts as well as executive comments about the companies. Every time I came across a relevant article, I downloaded it to my computer in order to access it later. I maintained a separate folder for each such article. ACCA Textbooks I used my old text books to revise my financial ratios concepts as well as various strategic business models like Porters Five Forces and SWOT. Limitations of Information Gathering Research and Analysis Economic Analysis The economy of the world has been through a tough time in the last three years. In the second half of 2007, the developed economies started to suffer from one of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression in 1930s. The epicenter of the financial crisis was the subprime and housing market in the US, which collapsed in 2007. The high interest rates in the US in 2007 forced many people holding subprime mortgages to default on their payments. The high default rates translated into a large number of foreclosures, which increased the housing inventory held by banks and financial institutions. Since almost all of these subprime mortgages were securitized in financial products, they were held by various US and European banks as investments. When the housing and subprime market started to collapse, these securitized products lost their value rapidly, thereby forcing large banks and financial corporations to make huge writedowns in their financial statements. Soon the crisis engulfed the entire financial and banking industry with many well-known names like Lehman Brothers getting bankrupted. Housing giants like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were nationalized in order to avoid their bankruptcy. The effects of the economic meltdown were not just limited to the financial and banking sector. Many other industries suffered greatly from the crisis. Gold played a key role in the international economics during the recession. Since the beginning of the crisis, gold was seen by many investors around the world as a potential safe haven investment. This increased investment in the precious metal in the last two years. Gold prices have therefore, seen significant increases and news highs have been tested frequently. Gold mining companies like Goldcorp and Barrick Gold have seen steady rise in their revenues over the last three years, despite the economic slowdown. This was mainly due to the high prices of the gold in the last few years. Industry Analysis The gold mining industry has been a key economic sector in the 20th century and its importance has increased much more in the last few years. As discussed above, the economic turmoil had turned gold into one of the most desired safe haven investments. The gold mining industry involves all activities from the extraction process to the eventual refining and sale. The growth of the mining industry is largely related to the price of gold in the international markets. This is because the price of gold determines the profits a company will make by the extraction process and eventual sale. Most of the gold extracted by the mining players is actually used for jewelry purposes. A much lesser percentage is used as a financial asset by major corporations around the globe as well as many central banks. According to Dollardaze.org, a market research blog, nearly 52% of the gold present in the world is in the form of jewelry (https://dollardaze.org/blog/?post_id=00479cat_id=20). The chart below illustrates this: Most of the demand of gold also comes from the Jewelry sector. In 2006, this sector was estimated at nearly $44 billion. This is followed by investment sector and the industrial sector (which includes electronics, dentistry and decorative applications) (citation). The supply of gold is much more segregated. Most of the gold was extracted and mined by South Africa as of 2006, with China and Indonesia following it (citation). Industry Life Cycle Business Analysis In the business analysis, I will analyze the effects of various competitive forces on Goldcorp Inc. I will also study the strengths and weaknesses of the subject company. Porters Five Forces This strategic business model was introduced by the well-known Harvard professor, Michael Porter in 1980. Below, I have applied the model to Goldcorp Inc. Threat of New Entrants The threat of new entrants in the gold mining industry is quite low. This is mainly due to the principle entry barrier of large sums of capital. The entire chain of gold mining and extraction is very capital intensive and it requires large sums of capital. Construction of mines and production facilities require a significant amount of long-term finance, which is difficult to obtain by new entrants. Apart from that, acquiring a suitable mine itself is very difficult because the gold reserves are limited and the already-known reserves are controlled by large mining corporations. The low threat of new entrants influences the margins of gold mining companies including Goldcorp positively. Bargaining power of suppliers The main thing required to gold mining corporations is land on which mining operations can be performed and gold can be extracted. Since land which is suitable for mining is limited, the bargaining power of suppliers is considerable high. Lands are normally controlled by governments of various nations and it is usually leased to the mining corporations under long-term agreements. The approval and permits to mine these lands can very expensive. Further, there is normally much competition regarding the acquisition of land by gold mining corporations because many major companies bid to acquire the same piece of land. Therefore, the high bargaining power of suppliers puts up a negative pressure on the margins of Goldcorp Inc. Bargaining power of buyers Gold is a commodity. This means that gold provided by one company is not very different from gold provided by other companies. Purity levels can be different but the price of gold normally incorporates that. Therefore, the buyers of gold have a significant power over the suppliers of gold. The price of the gold is decided by the international supply and demand; therefore buyers look for best contractual terms rather than low prices. The high bargaining power of buyers also exerts a downward pressure on the gold mining corporations. Threat from substitutes products Gold is a precious metal and has many substitutes like diamonds, silver, platinum, etc. However, despite the wide range of other precious metals, they are relatively less widely accepted. Gold has the prestige of being a worldwide alternative currency and it is accepted in almost any country. Therefore, the threat from substitutes is low at present from other precious metals. However, it can be argued that the other precious metals are gaining significant popularity and they may become as important as gold in the coming years. Current the threat from substitutes is low and does not affect the profitability or performance of Goldcorp largely. However, in the coming years, this may change. Competitive rivalry As discussed above, the price of gold is determined by the market forces. Therefore, the gold mining corporations does not compete on the basis of price. Further, gold is a commodity, so the competition is also not largely based on quality. The primary competition element between gold companies is the gold reserves. Gold corporations spend large sums of capital to acquire reserves and use them to mine gold. Reserves are the main strength of a gold corporation and the basis of inter-company competition. As of December 2009, Barrick Gold Corporation has the highest amount of proven and probably gold reserves, amounting to nearly 139.8 million ounces (https://www.barrick.com/GlobalOperations/GlobalOverview/default.aspx). Goldcorp ranks second on the basis of proven and probable gold reserves held, which amounts to 48.75 million ounces as of December 2009 (https://www.goldcorp.com/investors/reserves_resources/). SWOT Analysis SWOT Analysis is generally used to access the strengths and weaknesses of an organization. It also analyzes the opportunities present for a company in the business environment along with potential threats. Strengths of Goldcorp Reserves Goldcorp has a large amount of gold reserves spanning in various parts of the world. In the gold mining business, reserves are the backbone of any company. Not just the gold reserves, the company holds a large amount of silver as well as copper reserves as shown in the following table: Table and source These reserves provide a substantial strength to the companys asset base. Diverse Mining Operations Goldcorp has not concentrated its mining efforts in one particular region. In fact, its operations exist in various countries and regions including Canada, United States, Mexico and Central and South America (source). The geographical diversity in helps to minimize the regional risk factors present in individual territories and countries. Weaknesses of Goldcorp Less Diversification in Revenue Base Despite the strength and recognition of Goldcorp, the company has certain weaknesses like all other major corporations. Although, Goldcorp deals in various precious metal products, but its revenue base is relatively less diversified. The prices of precious metals are normally positively correlated. This means that in the event of a decline in prices of the metals like gold and silver, the revenues of Goldcorp can be negatively affected. Prone to Exchange Rate Fluctuations Further, the business model of the company is also prone to variances in the global exchange rates. Fluctuations in currency prices have serious effects on the profits of the company and this is evidenced by the large decline in the profitability of the company in 2009 (see profitability analysis below). Opportunities available Acquisition of more reserves Goldcorp owns a large amount of precious metal reserves but there are still various untapped gold resources. Many countries like India and China have huge reserves and Goldcorp can make deals with respective governments to mine them. The company has enough financial strength to expand beyond its conventional gold reserve sources. More Diversification As pointed out in the weaknesses of Goldcorp, the company has a relatively less diversified revenue base. The opportunity to diversify is present in the external environment and it will enable Goldcorp to ensure against falling precious metals. The competitor of Goldcorp, Barrick Gold Corporation holds interest in oil and gas properties as well besides its conventional precious metal business. Therefore, Goldcorp can also mitigate its risks by more diversification. Threats Competition One of the major threats faced by Goldcorp is the intense competition in the gold mining industry. The companies present in the sector normally compete on acquiring mines and pieces of land. With the gold prices soaring to new highs, it is very likely that new competitors, especially state-sponsored companies might step up their mining operations, making the marketplace even more competitive. Volatile price of Gold Another threat to Goldcorp is the volatile price of gold. Gold prices are normally determined on market related factors like supply and demand. Therefore, the variance in the prices of the precious metal can have substantial effects on the revenues of Goldcorp. A steep fall in the price of gold in the international market can cause a serious blow to profitability. Financial Analysis This section will deal with the financial aspects of Goldcorp Inc. In order to perform a better analysis, I will compare the key financial aspects of the company with its competitor, Barrick Gold Corporation. Profitability Analysis Revenue Analysis The topline revenues of Goldcorp have surged consistently in the last three years. The year-over-year increase in revenues has been 13% in 2009 and 10% in 2008. Most of this increase was a direct result of rising gold prices in the international markets. The increasing appeal of gold as a safe haven investment has led to the surge, which in turn positively affected the revenues of the company. This is illustrated by the following graph, which shows the price of the precious metal for the past 5 years: Besides the sharp increase in the prices of gold, the company also benefitted from increasing its production levels. In 2009, the production of gold increased by nearly 4%, whereas in 2008, it increased by more than 13%. The competitor company, Barrick Gold Corporation, also managed to considerably increase its revenues. Its sales increased by 7% in 2009 and 27% in 2008. A comparison of Goldcorp and Barrick Gold sales is given below: Just like Goldcorp, an increase in the annual production as well as rising gold prices helped Barrick Gold to improve its revenues. Net Profit Margin The net profit margin ratio is commonly used to determine the efficiency of an organization in converting its revenues of profits. It helps the analysts and investors to understand the underlying cost structures of the company. Net margin ratio is calculated by dividing the net profits of an organization with its revenues. Higher net margin ratios means that the organization has effective cost controls in place and the profitability is, therefore, better. The net margin ratio of Goldcorp was 8.82% in 2009, which decreased substantially from 60.99% in 2008 and 20.85% in 2007. The competitor, Barrick Gold, suffered substantially in the last three years, as its net margin ratio declined from 18.61% in 2007 to negative 52% in 2009. As the above chart illustrates, there has been a substantial decline in the net margin ratio of Goldcorp in 2009. By looking at the financial statements, it can be seen that the decline occurred despite a 13% increase in the revenues, which leaves with just one explanation; the decline is caused by a sharp plunge in the revenues. A deeper look in the income statement shows that the earnings from mining operations of the gold giant actually soared by nearly 34% last year, which was mainly due to strict cost controls of Goldcorp. The operating expenses rose minimally by 2% despite the jump in sales. This cost effectiveness primarily resulted from very low production costs of the company as compared to its competitors. This is illustrated in the chart below: It can be seen that the cash production costs per ounce of Goldcorp were very low in all the last three years as compared to Barrick Gold. Despite the low cast costs of production and increasing operating earnings, Goldcorp was not able to translate much of its sales into net profits. As it turns out, this was mainly due to a huge loss on foreign exchange transactions suffered by the company in 2009 as compared to a large gain in 2008. Most of the loss mainly resulted due to translation of future income taxes denominated in currencies other than US dollars like Mexican peso and Canadian dollars (pg 128, Goldcorp Annual Report 2009). As mentioned before in the SWOT Analysis, Goldcorp faces a significant threat from adverse currency movements and this huge loss is an example of such a threat actually effecting the profitability of the company. Barrick Gold Corporation also managed to increase its revenues during the last year, but the companys profitability was adversely affected as it eliminated its gold sales contract to un-hedge its gold reserves and benefit from rising gold prices. But the elimination of gold contracts cost the company more than $5 billion, eating up the revenues and turning them into an annual loss. Return on Equity Return on equity determines the amount of profit an organization earns as a percentage of its shareholders equity. This ratio shows the return a company is able to generate by using the funds provided by the equity investors. These funds include the share capital as well as the retained profits. Return on equity is calculated by dividing the net profits with the shareholders equity. A higher return on equity implies that the organization is effectively utilizing its shareholders equity to invest in projects which generate high returns. The return on equity of Goldcorp was 1.55% in 2009, which declined substantially from 9.86% in 2008 and 3.55% in 2007. On the other hand, the return on equity of Barrick Gold was negative 5.08% in 2009, which declined from 5.08% in 2008. The above chart illustrates that the return on equity of both the companies fell significantly in 2009, but the decline in Barrick Golds returns were much dangerous. The reason behind the plunging ROE of Goldcorp is the declining profits of the company. As discussed above, Goldcorp managed to earn decent operating earnings but failed to translate them into net profits, mainly due to a huge exchange rate loss. In order to access the companys profitability situation without the exchange rate effects, I calculated the adjusted net profits of Goldcorp, in which I eliminated the exchange rate gains and losses for a deeper analysis. 2009 2008 2007 Adjusted Net Earnings (millions of $) 606.80 416.70 509.50 Adjusted ROE 3.92% 2.79% 3.93% Source: Goldcorp Annual Report 2009 The above table shows that the adjusted earnings of the company increased in 2009, thereby increasing the adjusted return on equity as well. Moreover, the returns Goldcorp earned over its shareholders equity are quite consistent, which is a good sign for profitability. Barrick Gold, the main competitor, suffered a major blow to its profitability in 2009. But that was mainly due to a one-time charge in its income statement relating to the un-hedging of its gold contracts. The loss from eliminating the contracts is not expected to continue in the future, therefore, the profits of the company are expected to show a significant rise in the coming years. Overall, the profitability of both companies was masked by various events like exchange rate losses and hedging transactions. Goldcorp managed to improve its profitability as the price of gold and the high demand presented with a suitable opportunity. Barrick Gold also benefited from the favorable environment; however, its hedging decisions cost the company too much to show a better profitability position than its arch-rival. Liquidity Analysis Current Ratio The current ratio is generally used to access the ability of an organization to honor its short-term obligations. It is calculated by dividing the current assets of an organization with its current liability. Higher current ratio normally means that an organization has sufficient short-term assets and resources to pay off the obligations that may arise in the upcoming twelve months. The current ratio of Goldcorp was 2.18 times in 2009, which increased from 1.56 times in 2008 but declined from 2.96 times in 2007. The competitor, Barrick Gold Corporation had its current ratio at 2.79 times in 2009, which increased from 2.23 times in 2008. As the above chart shows, the current ratio of Goldcorp improved in 2009 from previous years figure. The main reason behind the increase in the current ratio of the company was a 111% jump in the current assets, whereas the current liabilities increased by just 51% in 2009. Goldcorp managed to increase its cash balance by more than two folds, suggesting that the company has sufficient liquidity to meet its short-term obligations. But a closer analysis of the various activities that provided the cash is necessary. (millions of $) 2009 2008 Growth Operating Activities 1270.2 866.0 47% Investing Activities (1457.7) (441.7) 230% Financing Activities 799.2 659.9 21% Source: Goldcorp Annual Report 2009 The above table shows that most of the cash is generated by the operating activities. Also, the company managed to increase its operating cash flow in the last year, which suggests that Goldcorp is translating much of its profits into actual cash. This is a good sign and indicates a decent liquidity position. Barrick Gold Corporation also managed to improve its current ratio in the last year. In fact, the competitor had a much higher current ratio than Goldcorp. The balance sheet of Barrick Gold shows that the cash balances of the company are much higher than Goldcorp and increased significantly in 2009. Therefore, on the basis of current ratio, it is safe to argue that Barrick Golds ability to meet its short-term obligations is much higher. Acid Test Ratio Acid Test ratio is another ratio which is commonly used to analyze the liquidity of a company. Inventory is often considered to be an illiquid item in the current assets because it is normally the most difficult to be converted into cash. Therefore, many investors and analysts prefer to take inventory out of the equation in order to better judge the liquidity situation. This ratio does exactly dat. Acid Test ratio is calculated by dividing current assets less inventory from the current liabilities. Goldcorp had an acid test ratio of 1.70 times in 2009, which increased from 1.10 times in 2008 but plunged from 2.37 times in 2007. On the other hand, the acid test ratio of Barrick Gold was 1.92 times in 2009, which increased from 1.54 times in 2008. Like the current ratio, the acid test ratio of both companies also improved in 2009. The inventory of Goldcorp increased by nearly 54% in 2009 but despite the increase in the stocks of ore, the company managed to maintain sufficient liquid assets. A higher amount of inventory is necessary to support a larger sales volume, therefore, the rise in inventory is essential to the expansion of the company. In any way, there is no evidence to support that the increasing inventory is due to stale stock because of the high demand of gold and other precious metals. The competitor, Barrick Gold, also increased its stockpiles of ore by nearly 20% in 2009. This might be due to the same reason, which is to support larger sales. Further, the acid test ratio of Barrick Gold is higher than that of Goldcorp, suggesting that the company is in a better liquidity position. Overall, it is safe to conclude that both the companies have sufficient liquidity levels and are in good position to satisfy their obligations. However, Barrick Gold have higher cash reserves and have better liquidity ratios, which indicates that the company has better liquidity. Capital Structure Analysis Debt to Equity Ratio Capital structure is a very important financial aspect of any organization. A company normally finances its assets and operations with either equity capital or debt capital. In general terms, debt capital is a cheaper source of finance, mainly due to tax credits available on the interest payments. On the other hand, dividends paid to equity financiers receive no tax benefits, which effectively increase the cost of equity financing. Despite the fact that debt capital is less expensive, large amounts of loans or fixed charge capital can seriously increase the financial risk present in the company. Interest payments are normally fixed and do not vary with the companys profitability. Therefore, an organization has to maintain a balance between equity and debt capital to ensure that its cost of capital is low and its financial risk is also tolerable. The debt to equity ratio (also known as gearing ratio) determines the mix of debt and equity financing in a company. For Goldcorp, this ratio was 4.64% in 2009, which increased from 0.04% in 2008 and fell from 7.98% in 2007. On the other hand, Barrick Gold had a much higher debt to equity ratio in all the three years under review. The above chart clearly illustrates that the gearing ratio of Barrick Gold is much higher than that of Goldcorp. The balance sheet of Goldcorp shows that the long-term debt of the company stands at $719 million, which increased by nearly from 5.3 million in 2008 and 1,036 million in 2007. The pattern of increase in the debt capital of Goldcorp shows that the company redeemed a large portion of its long-term debt in 2008 and borrowed more to replace the old debt in 2009. This is also confirmed by the cash flow statement of the company. The low gearing ratio of Goldcorp implies a low financial risk. By reviewing the income statement of the company, it can be seen that the interest expense is significantly lower as compared to the earnings before from operations. In other words, the interest cover of Goldcorp is significantly high, as show in the following table: Interest Cover 2009 2008 2007 Goldcorp 43 18 30 Barrick Gold n/a 69 11 On the other hand, Barrick Gold fell victim to one of the classic outcomes of financial risk. The competitor had a much higher gearing ratio, which means that the financial risk is high. This in turn means that the company has higher interest payments and in times of losses, the fixed interest expense puts up a further negative effect. In 2009, Barrick Gold had negative profits to pay the interest expenses, which resulted in a negative interest cover. Overall, the financial risk of Goldcorp is much lower than that of its competitor. Further, Barrick Gold significantly increased its debt levels in 2009, suggesting even higher levels of risk. Investment Analysis Dividend Cover Dividend cover determines the number of times an organization can pay its dividends from current years earnings. This ratio is calculated by dividing the total annual dividend of an organization with its net profits. A higher dividend cover implies that an organization has sufficient profits to pay its shareholders in the form of dividends. This is interpreted as a good sign by potential investors. Further, high dividend cover also means that the organization can maintain its dividend policy in the future. The dividend cover ratio of Goldcorp Inc was 1.83 times in 2009, which decreased from 11.45 times in 2008 and 3.61 times in 2007. The competitor, Barrick Gold, had a negative dividend cover ratio. As the above chart shows, the dividend cover of Goldcorp fell significantly in 2009. The decline in the ratio came despite the fact that the company maintained its annual dividends at 18 cents per share. The primary reason behind the fall in the dividend cover of Goldcorp was the plunging net profits, which resulted as the company recorded a huge foreign exchange loss, which ate up almost all of its operating profits. Despite the falling profits, Goldcorp maintained its dividends, which might a result of two things: The company expects the exchange losses to reverse in the upcoming years, therefore, a revision in the dividend policy was not considered appropriate. On an adjusted basis and excluding the exchange losses, the company actually managed to increase its revenues and profits. Therefore, Goldcorp maintained its dividend policy as a signal of strength to its shareholders and potential investors. Barrick Gold Corporation also maintained its dividends, despite a sharp fall in profits. As discussed earlier in the profitability analysis, un-hedging of gold contracts resulted in the huge loss posted by the company. The un-hedging is a one-off event and in the coming years, the companys profits are expected to return to normal, therefore, Barrick Gold may have decided to keep the dividend payments stable. Dividend Yield Dividend yield determines the return on investment an investor can earn by receiving dividends from an organization. Dividend yield is calculated by dividing the cash dividends per share paid a company with share price. Investors and analysts normally look for companies with high dividend yield because that implies a higher return on the investment. For the purpose of this RAP, the dividend yield is calculated by dividing the dividend per share with annual closing share price of the companies (at the end of December). The dividend yield ratio of Goldcorp Inc was 0.46% in 2009, which decreased from 0.58% in 2008 and 0.54% in 2007. The competitor, Barrick Gold, had a much higher dividend yield than Goldcorp, as shown in the following graph: The main reason behind the decline in the dividend yield of Goldcorp was a slight increase in the closing share price of the company in 2009. Higher share price means that a higher investment is required to purchase Goldcorps share, whereas the dividends provided by the company remained the same. Therefore, the return provided by the company to its shareholder in the form of dividends effective declined in the last year. The competitor, Barrick Gold, also suffered a decrease in its dividend yield, however the company provided a much higher return to its shareholders in the form of dividends. This means that Barrick Golds shares are much more attractive to potential investors, if the dividend yields are considered. Conclusion Goldcorp is one of the largest gold mining companies in the world. It is a key player in the international precious metal industry and has business interests in various regions and countries around the globe. During the economic recession, which hit the developed markets in the last two years, gold prices have rallied to new highs as the demand for gold as a safe haven investment increased. Most gold companies, including Goldcorp and Barrick Gold Corporation benefited from higher prices and demand. The industry structure of gold mining industry is interesting. The companies face little threats from new entrants as the financial barriers to enter the marketplace are quite high. But since gold is a commodity, the buyers have significant bargaining power. Gold mines around the world are also limited, which gives the suppliers of mining lands considerable power as well. The competition within the market participants is tough as well. The profitability analysis of Goldcorp gave interesting conclusions. The companys profits fell significantly in the last year, mainly due to large exchange gain losses. However, if the exchange losses (which are a very volatile item) are removed from the equation, then on an adjusted basis, the company actually managed to benefit from higher gold prices as well as soaring demand. Goldcorp increased in production in the year and reduced its production costs significantly, thereby achieving higher margins. However, despite the improvement in the adjusted profits of the company, the exchange gain losses cannot be completely ignore as currency prices do pose a very serious threats to companies like Goldcorp. If the company suffers more exchange losses in the coming years, then there may be some serious profitability concerns. On the other hand, the competitor, Barrick Gold, also suffered from a sharp decline in its profitability, mainly due to a large loss relating to un-hedging of gold contracts. Apart from this loss, Barrick Gold also improved its profitability in the last year. Liquidity ratios of both the companies showed that both companies have considerable amount of short-term assets to satisfy their obligations. Goldcorp had sufficient cash reserves on its balance sheet and most of its cash came from operating activities, which suggests that the company is actually converting its profits into cash flows. However, despite a decent cash position, it is clear from the analysis that Barrick Gold had a much better liquidity situation than its competitor. The current and acid test ratios were higher as well as the cash balances. Capital structure analysis of both companies also yielded very interesting results. The gearing ratio of Goldcorp was very low was compared to its main competitor. This shows that the company uses very little amount of debt capital to finance its assets and operations. Less amount of debt implies that the company has low financial risk, therefore, it is in a better position to raise more capital when needed. On the other hand, Barrick Gold Corporation highly geared and has a large amount of debt capital in its capital structure. The investment analysis of both companies revealed that both Goldcorp and Barrick Gold managed to maintain their dividends in the last year despite fall in the profits. The dividend cover ratio of Goldcorp was much higher than its competitor, suggesting that the company might not have any trouble in maintaining its dividend policy in the future on a relative basis. But the dividends of Barrick Gold yielded much higher returns to the shareholders as compared to Goldcorp, which suggests that potential investors may find Barricks shares more attractive. It is safe to conclude that both companies have a decent investment picture at the moment, despite being dented by sharp declines in their profits. Recommendation Overall, I believe that Goldcorp showed a reasonable performance in the last three years despite the economic recession. It is true that the company suffered from large exchange losses but if the company hedge against future currency movements, then it may reduce them to increase its profitability in the future. Goldcorp remains a strong and large company and strong demand in the gold is expected to drive the revenues further up. But still, due to uncertainty in the profits of the company I would rate it at HOLD and would not recommend investing in the company at the moment.