Romeo and Juliet Diary Entries

Dear diary, as it is the first time I am writing to you, I would like to tell a little concerning myself. My name is Romeo, and I come from the Montague family, with my dad Mr. Montague and my mum Lady Montague. I am sixteen. Not that I have a high regard for myself, but I have to say that I am quite attractive, bright and sensitive. I live in the middle of a fierce fight between my family and the Capulet’s. This battle has started ages before I was born, and will keep on going for generations and generations. Sincerely, I think that this fight is foolish, and that violence doesn’t make thing different and by no means will between our two families. I take the Capulet’s as equal to us, and nothing will alter my mind. I feel that this day couldn’t get any worst for me. You see I like this girl from the name of Rosaline, but she doesn’t return her affection towards me. This made me miserable for the whole day, and I had not the desire to see any people. I went around the region, and went into profound thinking and came to the point that there was no more point of breathing if I could never get will my beloved Rosaline. The only person informed about my love for her is my dearest cousin â€Å"Benvolio†. I told him how I felt, and how I couldn’t live without her, and he gave me the advice of going with him tonight at the masked party at the Capulet’s mansion. Dear diary I hope my cousin is right and if not what should I do? 21 April Dear diary, I am writing to tell you that I have forgotten about Rosaline in my heart and that at ball, at the Capulet’s I have fallen in love, from the first moment I saw her, and she unclasp my heart, and treed it from the thing I thought I loved and fixed it only on her. You see the moment I laid sight upon her; she engulfed my feelings upon her, and made me forget about Rosaline. The only shocked I had was after the tender kissed I got from laying my lips on hers, was that I later on learned that she was a Capulet. She is a thirteen-year-old girl, she is one of the most gorgeous girls I have ever laid eyes on, and her eyes reminded me of starts lighting upon a dark night. Even though she is of the enemy family, I thought that in any cases love was possible, and that without letting both siblings know I could forever be with her, and that in any cases we could run away together. On that night, after the ball, I have left both Benvolio and Mercutio and went climbing up her balcony, and from both side we exchanged our vows. When she was done with hers, I stopped her mouth with a kiss after having heard enough, and my heart was beating so fast that the night with her passed so fast till the moment I had to leave, which made it hard to take out my sight upon her perfect shadow. 25 April A few days later, I had gone through some with Juliet, and I finally think she is the one I want to be with. I hurried early in the morning to Friar Laurence who for me is some kind of second father, and at the same time a best friend which I tell everything to. He is quite old, and works in a small church in the middle of a field of roses. When I arrived their, I jumped in his arm, and him exited to see me, I thought it would be a good moment to actually express my feelings for Juliet. But after I have told him that I have no more feeling for Rosaline, but for the Capulet’s daughter, he turned his head away from me, and kept on walking. He then stopped and told me that what I am doing will just make the relation between both family more complicated, but the more he thought of it, the better it was for both families, so he agreed to the marriage, and on very special day we got married. 27 April Dear diary, after I have thought that nothing could ruin the joy that I had in my heart for a couple of days, well it actually did. When I went to see Benvolio and Mercutio to tell them some of the good news, well there was a fight going on in the center of the village. Tybault, which is Juliet cousin, came to our territory, and asked for trouble, and Mercutio which could not refuse a fight, decided to fight against Tybault, which I tried to make it not happen, but by falling, the fight ended by dearest Mercutio to die in my hand from Tybaults sword. Without any pretoughts, I rushed to Tybault and killed him as revenge towards Mercutio. And this is when everything turned into hell. As the prince kept on saying, that if by any means a fight was happening between then two families, the one responsible was ask to be killed. So after having killed Tybault I thought that the best idea was to flee and go hide somewhere outside the region where nothing could happen. But would Juliet be ok? How would she get any of my news? What should I do? 02 May It as been five days since I didn’t see my beloved Juliet, and I am going crazy without her. I keep asking myself those questions, if everything is ok on her side. I would do anything to go back in the past and change the fight which happened. Friar told me that I should stay where I am and not move till I get a letter from him, telling me that everything would be back as usual, except that I would have to run away with my love. I would do anything to see her again, I wouldn’t mind running away till the other side of our planet. The only thing I now must be worried about is whether she is ok, and if everything will go according to plan. I have sent a loyal friend to look on Juliet while I stay and hide in the hut which I am standing in right now, and see whether everything is ok on her side. But when he came back a couple of minutes earlier, he told me that he saw Juliet dead†¦When I heard that I thought that I was gone for, I was already seeing the life falling behind me and that it is impossible that this could have happened. So without the Friar letter, I will think I would have to go to the graveyard and see whether what I heard is in fact true. Next time I will be writing in this diary I would tell how I in fact managed to run away with my Juliet and that we would for ever live happily ever after.

Using Mixed Method: Both Qualitative & Quantitative Research

BackgroundOnce upon a time there was a successful line of convenience stores. We'll call this group of stores â€Å"QuickStop†. At some point a staff-member realised that QuickStop seemed to be patronised by many more men than women. This was passed along to the management team and they asked the store tellers to informally keep track of the proportions of men to women who came into their stores. It turned out that the theory seemed to hold true, and in fact far more men patronized QuickStop than did women.This information was passed along to the other managers at other QuickStop stores and they found the same trend. This received some higher level management attention and they began to wonder why this was occurring. Eventually management made the decision that this was too large a group of potential customers to lose, and a decision was eventually made to study this phenomenon and to understand why it was taking place, and if anything could be done about it.Research Objective A research project was designed to understand how women felt about shopping at QuickStop stores and why. It was decided that this research should be qualitative and the specific methodology would be In-depth-Interviews (this is research with one professional interviewer and one respondent at a time – in this case the decision was made because there were suspicions that there could be sensitive issues that wouldn't be discussed as candidly in a group setting).Qualitative ResearchAbout two dozen current or potential female customers were paid to come into a research facility to discuss the use of convenience stores in general, and later in the interviews the discussion was directed specifically to QuickStop convenience stores, in particular. The results were very surprising to the management team. The major qualitative findings included  the following:i. Women viewed convenience stores to be primarily designed for men, with little or no consideration for women,ii. The bathroo ms at convenience stores were believed to be the dirtiest that could be found in a city – â€Å"gross† was the most common description – and that perception permeated everything that women felt about convenience stores in generaliii. QuickStop was seen as one of the worst of convenience stores â€Å"kind of the place for a man to buy gas, get a six-pack of cheap beer and cigarettes, but not the kind of place I want to go†.Quantitative ResearchOnce the management team had an understanding of what issues they faced with female customers, they felt that they needed to understand how broadly these beliefs were held. Now they needed to get some hard numbers, and that meant that they needed to conduct quantitative market research. The research objective for this phase of research were:i. Understand how female customers of QuickStop differ from those that don't regularly visit these stores.ii. Understand whether or not a renovation of QuickStop could entice each group to visit more frequently (or at all depending on whether the respondent currently avoided QuickStop entirely).For the quantitative phase of research they decided to conduct 250 telephone interviews with a combination of female respondents. The requirements to participate in this phase of research were that: half of the respondents stated that they had used QuickStop at least five times in the last year, and the other half admitted to intentionally avoiding QuickStop altogether, although they did use other brands of convenience stores. The major results  from the quantitative phase indicated that:a. Over 76% of all female QuickStop customers were women under 30 years old, without children, while women with children and with higher incomes were 5 times less likely to shop at QuickStopb. The good news was that of the women who didn't currently use QuickStop, 64% said that if these stores were to update their color schemes, clean up their bathrooms and update their health and f eminine products that they would be willing to try QuickStop again.The two phases of research (qualitative + quantitative) gave the QuickStop management team a very good understanding of where they currently stood with female customers and why. Their quantitative research also indicated that those women who were not currently using their stores would â€Å"forgive† them if they changed their ways. Their decision now was to decide if gaining more middle-aged women as customers was worth the cost of updating their stores and spending more money to keep them clean and neat, and better stocked with the types of products that middle-aged women with children needed.Research note: in general when conducting two phases of research (in this case qualitative and quantitative market research) it's most often the case that the first phase (qualitative research) is conducted first as a â€Å"lead-in†. Qualitative research tends to help the management team understand the underlying issues, and the second phase (quantitative in this case) helps to understand how pervasive/wide spread these feelings/attitudes are among a certain target audience.

Part II CIKR Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Part II CIKR - Essay Example With respect to this alternative approach, FEMA immediately began by sending to the region not only emergency management equipment and personnel but also a special team which has been subsequently termed as an â€Å"Innovation Team†. This innovation team was tasked with the responsibility of acting as a direct go-between for the stakeholders at the FEMA regional offices in New York City and the first responders on the ground. Prior emergency response had noted that a clear disconnect has been evidenced between the first responders and those individuals who are seeking to mitigate an action plan within the offices of the regional/local headquarters. As a means of providing a fresh set of eyes to the situation and acting as an attache to the different groups responsible for operations on the ground, the innovation team was able to connect internal and external groups to cooperate in a more efficient and time sensitive method. Naturally, even though the utilization of such a team necessarily took away from the overall manpower/resources which could be deployed with respect to emergency management operations, it was the understanding of FEMA, upon review and analysis of the operational plan and action of Sandy response, that the integration of the innovation team ultimately increase efficiency far beyond what could have been done if the same level of personnel were utilized in operations alone. Some of the most salient takeaways from post operational review of the innovation team and the means by which it responded denoted the fact that three specific areas within emergency operations were able to notice a marked improvement. The first of these was with regards to the overall level of emphasis that was placed upon communication. Naturally, after such a disaster, FEMA had traditionally been tasked with providing interoperable communications to all the stakeholders on the ground. However, the sheer complexity and interconnectivity of the existing communication s, as well as the damage that was performed, meant that FEMA’s role within interoperable communications and the provision of ensuring effective communications between key stakeholders needed a much higher level of emphasis. Yet, even with this oversight, the innovation team was able to point to these drawbacks and ameliorate them prior to these becoming a major pickup in the emergency response that FEMA was providing. A further level of growth and insight that the innovation team was able to provide was the fact that innovations that include cost savings and can produce most tangible and intangible benefits were the most beneficial towards the allocation of appropriate resources. Naturally, within the time of disaster, such as hurricane Sandy necessarily represented, the availability of these resources and the ultimate efficiency through which they could be provided was an element of the utmost importance. Accordingly, in order to ensure that these resources were utilized to a maximal and efficient level, the Innovation Team was able to provide useful feedback in order to determine how allocation of resources could be improved in the future. By analyzing the historical growth and appreciation for CIKR and the way in

Crafting and Executing Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Crafting and Executing Strategy - Essay Example The taxi business section is operated by a fleet of 120 units headed by the taxi department while the other car rental functionality is operated by a fleet of 65 luxury vehicles with chauffer services available at the request of the clients. Both sections operate in ten different locations within the city. There are several players in the taxi business, and competition is relatively higher than in the luxury car rental section, which enables the company to diversify its markets. Under the circumstances of a business environment with challenges of different types such as economic volatility and continued competitors growth, a strategic plan is important in formulating the appropriate planning to overcome the challenges (Wasti, 2003). In terms of a volatile economic environment, a strategic plan enables the business to set goals within the potential and operation level that company affords and to produce the best possible sustainability results. In view of the competition experienced from rival companies in the transport section, it is imperative that the business stays ahead of the competitors by designing the most competitive products that enable sustainable operations. Better decision-making processes made from a vantage strategy view enable the business to make few mistakes and exploit the best opportunities achieved from appropriate decisions taken (Darbi, 2012). A strategic plan also facilitates the concentration of focus, resources, and energy on a com mon agreeable decision made on behalf of every participant of the company, and this reduces conflicts and divergent priorities. Customer satisfaction is facilitated by a competent team operating from a strategic plan as opposed to an ambiguous action approach. Alternatively, it is possible to grow a business brand from a coordinated strategy as opposed to a brand from an amorphous action approach. Drive America is a world-class transport service taking

THE RISE OF ISLAM Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

THE RISE OF ISLAM - Term Paper Example 14 Introduction Islam and Christianity are two of the largest and independent religions in the world. They both use technology and modern means of communication in order to preach and propagate. Members of these religious groups are surrounded with all the temptations of material things: technology, gadgets, the internet, fast-paced communication, transportation faster than the speed of sound, and above all money. These things are not evil per se but they should be able to detect temptation because they can be tools of the devil to entice man to sin. Where were these things some centuries ago? Islam was born and grew out of the polytheism practices at the time the prophet Muhammad was beginning to ponder upon his existence. It was also during those times when the prophet was bored of the technology and materialism of the time. Will there emerge another religion in the midst of all these? There are signs of evil hold over the things we take for granted. Is it true that Islam is a sham of Christianity? Let us take a brief history of Islam before we hear the apologist’s responses. This essay is about Islam and Christianity. First of all, Christianity came ahead of Islam and in fact many of the beliefs and principles preached by the prophet Muhammad were taken from the Bible and Christian teachings. ... The explanations that the apologists offered were that Islam was a Christian heretical doctrine, God Judge Islam because of the inadequacy of the church, and Islam was not real but was a wicked sham of Christianity. Background The beginning and growth of Islam is one of the most remarkable religious phenomena in the history of man’s quest to believe in a Supreme Being and to know the meaning of life and religion. It is still considered a young religion with about 1.2 billion followers. Islam is the religion of countries that stretch from North Africa to Southeast Asia and to smaller Muslim communities across the globe.1 At the time before the birth of Islam, Arabia was cut off from neighbouring civilizations. The peninsula was characterized by diverse landscapes and mountain ranges which created different ecosystems. During the birth of Muhammad, much of Arabia was subjected to foreign influences such as political, economic and cultural. Christianity was one of these influence s.2 Muhammad whose official name in the Muslim world is Prophet Muhammad ibn Abd Allah was born in 570AD in Mecca or what is called Saudi Arabia today. He was orphaned at an early age but at a young age he was already searching for the truth of his own existence. He married a rich widow at the age of 25 and it was also at this age that he started to search for God and the meaning of life. He got some answers through dreams. He found solitude as an escape from the demands of city life. He did not like the practice of polytheism at that time, so he would often find refuge in caves. It was believed that the angel Gabriel appeared to him in a dream while he was seeking refuge at Mt. Hira. The angel Gabriel asked him to

The Xbox Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Xbox - Essay Example As everyone knows by now, Nintendo was the company that pioneered the cutting edge gaming consoles that we know of today. With its trendsetting Nintendo Family console systems, they redefined the way that we play video games via its motion sensor game system, the Wii. However, the Wii has recently fallen to the roadside as stiffer competition from the Sony Playstation and Microsoft Xbox began to offer better graphics, game play, and game titles. The Wii is perfect for entry level gamers but could prove to be a bore to the more serious game players. That is why game console experts do not recommend the Wii (Bakalar â€Å"Which Game Console Should You Buy?†) to: Those who are looking for a game console that doubles as an all-purpose entertainment hub, want state-of-the-art HD graphics, enjoy a robust online community, and/or those who prefer a wide selection of adult-targeted titles. In other words, you can get your feet wet in the Wii but dont expect to take a serious swim in it. Specially since the Wii has already been retired by Nintendo in favor of the newer but Wii U which has yet to catch on with the gaming market. The second serious motion gaming contender is the Playstation Move. Although its motion wand is nothing that should leave the Wii shaking in its wake, it does offer better graphics capabilities and game play than the pioneering console. Cnet Australia ranked this particular console as one of those destined to gather dust bunnies on your entertainment shelf due the limited motion gaming titles and problematic motion sensing system that results in a more complicated gaming system because: .. it also requires a camera to be installed near the TV, which wont actually be used for most PS3 games. It requires a few feet of distance to use, but most games only register the controllers motion, not yours... (Stein &Ackerman â€Å"Xbox 360 Kinect vs. PlayStation Move vs. Nintendo Wii Remote

Anti-War Movement & Women Liberation Movement Research Paper

Anti-War Movement & Women Liberation Movement - Research Paper Example The fear had arisen due to communist victory in countries neighbouring Vietnam. Moreover, the country considered France weak in stopping the influence of communism in the region. Therefore, the administration viewed that France needed help to overcome the influence of communism from countries such as Japan and USSR (King Web). Moreover, the achievement of Vietnam independence in 1945 was seen as a threat of French existence. Initially, Ho Chi Minh had led the Vietnamese people to gaining independence from French and Japanese occupation (King Web). However, the French was not satisfied but willing to regain the lost colony. However, due to various challenges, the French sought the help of United States. In the speech, King notes,† Even before the French defeat we encouraged them with massive financial and military supplies to continue the war even after they had lost the will† (King Web). On the other hand, the government impression was that Vietnamese people were not prep ared for independence (King Web). As a result, the government was against the establishment of a genuine form of government established out of revolution. The government had been established without the assistance of China but indigenous forces and remnants of communists. The peasants had faith in the new leadership in implementing land reforms. On the other hand, the United States intended to control the administration of Vietnam. In fact, United States had a notion that Ho was not fit to unite the already divisive country. Therefore, United States ensures installation of their man Premier Diem (King Web). Diem became authoritarian, non-reformist, and failed to accept oppositions. Consequently, there were various revolts against the rule. As a result, the troops came in the country to quell the revolt against their chosen person. Moreover, military dictatorship of the United States continued after the toppling of Diem from power. However, in the United States, people were promised that military intervention was furthering the course of democracy and land reforms. Most, the message was delivered in terms of leaflets to the people. Additionally, United States deemed National Liberation Front as communist. As a result, the revolution was viewed as an enemy of the United States. Moreover, United States linked the death of Diem with communist activities in the region. Therefore, military advisors were sent to quell the groups of communism in south as well as the rebel movement. Moreover, the involvement was meant to curtail â€Å"aggression from the north† (King Web). In the 1960s, there was a rise of a new generation of students. Most of the students developed a culture of non-conformist. In fact, they resisted most of the ideal of America. One of the significant forms of resistance was organised in Berkley students against the House Un-American Activities Committee (Kitchell Web). They were against United States oppression of political freedom. There was also establishment of a radical student movement known as SLATE to inform Student on various issues regarding the country. As a result, there was increased interest in politics. Moreover, student participated in off-campus issues such as civil rights, nuclear production, and apartheid. Civil rights inspired student activism and helped students with rigorous objection. This was prominent among student of Morehouse College as opined by King (King Web). Victory in free speech and civil rights encouraged the student

Managerial Accounting Paper Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Managerial Accounting Paper - Coursework Example An investor would invest in the company when he finds it profitable for the long term or the short-term period. A company is profitable for the long term or the short term if it uses the available resources efficiently. To find that whether a company is using the resources efficiently or not, a researcher has to analyze the financial statements of the company. Along with this, the strategies taken by the company will also need to analyze. The vision, mission and goals of the company tell about the strategies that they are going to take in the future. Analyzing the financial position and the strategies taken by the company, an analyst can suggest the investor about his investing strategies in future. For investing in a company, the investor has to check the current trends in the industry. ... The researcher will analyze the performance of the company of past few years, the strategies taken by the company and the company’s performance from the industry perspective. The Investor’s Objective There are many types of investors in the market and their objectives are not same all the time. Some investors only aim for the short-term growth. For short-term gain the investors may trade inside a single day, i.e. they may buy and sell the stock in a single day. They can trade the stocks monthly basis. Their decision mainly based upon the movement of the stocks prices in a short term and the decision of the mass. When a huge number of investors sell a stock then these type of investors speculate that the stock price is likely to decrease and he also sells the stock. However, there are also other types of investors, who invest in a company for the long term. The objective of the investors is growth of the stock. They invest in a company for the long term. In this case, th e client of the researcher is the second type of investor. He prefers to invest for the long term. The researcher has selected the company BHP Billiton for analyze whether to invest more in the company or not. The researcher will analyze two situations i.e. the investor already holds the share of the company and the investor has not invested in the company until now. It will be recommend to the investor whether or not to invest in the company. BHP Billiton BHP Billiton is a company, which has formed in the year 2001, headquartered in Melbourne, Australia. The company was the merger of Anglo-Dutch Billiton Plc and the Australian Broken Hill Proprietary Company Limited. The company has a major office in the United Kingdom for the management purpose. The company is in the metals and mining

Hamidian Era Essay Example for Free

Hamidian Era Essay â€Å"Analyse the Hamidian era from the perspective of either the Balkan or the Anatolian or the Arab provinces, discussing the different ways in which that region was treated by the Ottoman government, and the different ways that region responded†. The Balkan region of the Ottoman Empire had always been a crucial part of it vast domains. The Balkan states can be credited with shortening the lifespan of a troubled empire. More specifically, Albania it can be argued contributed a great deal in bringing about the eventual demise of the Empire. The late British MP Audrey Hebert succinctly stated that, â€Å"In the end, like Samson in the Temple of Gaza, they pulled down the columns of the Ottoman Empire upon their own head. It was the Albanians and not the Serbs or Bulgars or Greeks who defeated the Turks†. It is strange then that not enough research has been done to deeply analyze the Albanian nations’ contributions towards the Ottoman Empire. This essay will look at the Hamedian agenda in relation to the Balkan region, focusing specifically on the Albanian nation. This essay will analyze the Sultans policies vis-a-vis the Albanians to conclude that in the end the Empire lost a once great ally of the Empire due to its detrimental centralizing policies, which attempted to strip away national in a time when nationalism was a central them in the region. The loss of Albania within the Balkans culminated in the Young Turk revolution, which brought an end to the Hamedian era. Sultan Abdul Hamid II is generally remembered as a pious ruler. The Hamedian agenda was multi-faceted. The Sultan sought to unify the Muslims under the banner of Islam to repel outside intruders. He also wanted complete authority in order to centralize his Empire. The Ottoman context at this time was characterized by strong nationalist calls from within the Empire. This sweeping nationalism was inspired by Western Europe and various European states encouraged nationalist movements within the Empire thus further compounding the multitude of political, social and economic problems confronting the Sultan. Sultan Abdul Hamid II attempted to undermine the growing nationalist problem by employing his policies of pan-Islamism. Pan-Islamism gained real momentum only after the signing of a treaty in Berlin in 1878. The treaty was a consequence of the Ottoman defeat against the Russians a year earlier. As a result the Sultan auspiciously suspended the constitution and exiled Ottoman Bureaucrats whose where seen as a threat to the Sultans power. The major outcome of this European headed congress however was that the Empire had lost large parts of the majority Christian Balkan territories. The Sultan then distanced himself from the secular orientated ideas of the preceding Tanzimat era. His policies â€Å"went from being, ostensibly supra-religious during the hey-day of the Tanzimat, to more emphasis being placed on Islam in tone and nuance†. An example of this is his education policy, which put forward school curriculums very Islamic in nature. The Balkans had always been a key economic resource for the Ottoman Empire, owing to its large population, huge fertile lands and well located position inside Europe. The congress’s decision resulted in Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria gaining independence. This greatly hindered the Sultan’s desire for centralization. Without worrying about ruling a large Christian population, the Sultan could now focus exclusively on his Muslim subjects. He did this in two ways. Firstly, the Sultans’ subjects needed to form â€Å"a cohesive new core of identity,† especially since the Muslim population made up over 70% of the Empire. Secondly, Abdul Hamid was not afraid to use his title as Caliph of the Believers to rally support from his subjects to call for jihad against the infidel colonialists. Of course this was part of the pan-Islamic propaganda used so well by the Sultan. In 1877 the Islamic agenda of the Sultan became very apparent. The San Stefano, treaty was forced on the empire after the Russians had defeated the Ottomans in war. The treated stipulated that the majority Albanians lands be given to Serbia, Bulgaria and Montenegro. The Albanians were ethnically non-Slavic and most of them were Muslims. They were known to be very loyal to the Empire. Some of the best soldiers who served in the Janissary corps came from Albania. Not long after the treaty of San Stefano, prominent figures from Albania came together in response to a congress that they perceived as dangerous to the Albanian national interests. This phase in Albania’s’ history is known as the national awakening. The initial result of this congress was the formation of the â€Å"league of Prezren† on 20 June 1878, lasting until 1881. With a coalition of land-owners, religious scholars and intellectuals, the league had almost 300 members. They came from Kosovva, Yannya, Isscodra, and Monasstir. The league submitted a document consisting of sixteen plans to the Sultan in 1878. At least 47 Albanian representatives signed this document. Article 1 clearly outlined that the Albanians were not against the Empire. Article 2 had clearly stated the Leagues’ loyal stance towards Abdul Hamid. We find the following in article 6: â€Å"In view of the situation in the Balkans, we will not allow any foreign troops to enter our territory. We will not recognize Bulgaria and do not even wish to hear its name mentioned. If Serbia does not agree to give up the regions it has occupied illegally, we will deploy volunteer corps (akindjiler) against it and do our utmost to bring about the return of these regions. We will do the same with Montenegro. † â€Å"It is understood that the Government may not interfere in the affairs of the League. Accordingly, the League will not interfere in the administrative affairs of the Government, unless the latter can be shown to have issued orders involving the use of force. † (Article 14) The formation of the league coupled with the resistance against the decisions of the congress of Berlin contributed in heightening the nationalistic tendencies of the Albanians. The call amongst the Albanians to unify the four populated vilayets into one autonomous province grew louder. However this clearly ran counter to the Sultan’s policy to unite the Empire on an Islamic basis and not a nationalist one, therefore rendering their demands impossible to accept. The Albanians became increasingly disgruntled with the policies of the Empire. However the Sultans endeavour to redefine the Ottoman identity as purely Islamic was â€Å"mainly directed at curbing nascent proto-nationalist acuities of the Ottoman Muslims. † Such a context deemed the ideas of league as harmful to the agenda of Abdul Hamid. The notion of a separate national entity, in this case â€Å"Albanianism’’ was thus actively suppressed by Abdul Hamid. Indeed Albanian nationalism became very pronounced and posed a threat to the Sultan. The idea of a national identity became so popular in Albania, that a traveller from England became astonished to observe that Albanians viewed themselves as Albanians and not as â€Å"Turks or Christians like other minorities in the Empire†. However language became a key hindrance for the Sultans plans. The Albanian language united them. In the wider Balkan context language aided in further agitating the growing nationalistic tendencies within the region. However the use of language as a basis for Albanian unity was not welcome by all. The Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople outlawed the use of the Albanian script in writing. Sticking to the social contours set by the Sultan the Patriarch intended to divide the Albanians on the basis of creed. † Local Orthodox Patriarchs threatened Albanian bishops teaching the language with excommunication. However such attempts were ultimately unsuccessful. The Albanian issue was also expressed in military terms further perplexing the Sultans problems. The Albanians fiercely resisted the points of the aforementioned treaty, which gave away territory to its neighbours, in particular the cessation of Ulcinnj, Plavve and Gusinnje to Montenegro. The Albanians represented by the league were even prepared for what they believed to be an imminent attack by Montenegro and Serbia. The military capabilities of the Albanians were well known to the Sultan. A close confidant to the Sultan and chief secretary of the Empire Tahsin Pasha (1894-1909) describes the Sultans views towards the Albanians. The Albanians occupied first place [in the empire]. Abdul Hamid believed in the bravery and devotion of Albanians. This certainly constituted the foundation of Abdul Hamid’s policies†¦in Rumeli; the Albanians were considered a bastion of Abdul Hamid’s policies† The Sultan was able to use the military might of the Albanian forces. 1879 was the year in which they defeated an army form Montenegro in Gussnye. The Empire would suppo rt or restrain Albanian military activity depending upon its political interests at the time. Albanians generally fitted into the wider Ottoman political plans, and although the league acted as an independent government inside Albania, collecting taxes and administering the region for example, the Sultan largely ignored this due to the Albanian opposition to a complete dissolution of the Ottoman Empire and its territories. However in 1881 when the pan-Islamic policy of the Sultan had reached a new level, the league was seen as a threat and officially dissolved. Many people were exiled to the western peninsula of Asia. Following on from the dismantling of the League of Prezren, Abdul Hamid had always attempted, until his removal in 1909, to use the loyal elements of the Albanians to maintain control of the Balkan region. The former vizier Mehmet assad Sefvett Pasha suggested that the Albanians should be heavily relied on for security in Europe. The general Derrvish Pasha also supported this view. The Sultan was fully aware of the strategic importance the Albanians held within the Empire. The Albanian population was of great size, and well placed in the Balkan region. They were key in defending the Empire from the Balkans. Due to the loyalty and importance the Albanians had to the Sultan, he expanded the role of the Albanians within the Empire. Many were hired as his palace guards, and given a greater chance of participation in the Ciragan Palace (the Ottoman Parliament). They were also appointed to keep the Sheikh-a-Islam safe. Nevertheless Abdul Hamid maintained a feeble hold over population of Albania. Tribal loyalty was a strong force amongst the Albanian people. This loyalty eventually evolved to become expressed through nationalism, a notion that had already swept the region. The Sultans use of pan-Islamism to centralize his Empire, and more specifically to create a loyal defensive Albanian front in Europe became interpreted as an infringement on the Albanian right to self-recognition. The Alabanian language was used to promote national solidarity amongst the Albanian population, something the Sultans at times abstract policies could not deal with. However it is also true that the Albanians shared a common cause with the Sultan. They rejected and resisted foreign encroachment of the Empire and did not wish for its dissolution. The formation of the league of Prezren is evidence for these sentiments. In the end the question of why the Albanians and the Sultan could not work together, even for the short term to solve these shared issues is difficult to answer. However what becomes pretty clear is that the Sultans policy of uniting his empire on the basis of religion was persistently competing with the powerful force of nationalism, and in this case Albanianism. To conclude, nationalist movements, which had engulfed the Balkans— the Serbs, Montenegrins and Greeks — had an impact on the Albanians. The Albanians wanted greater autonomy within the Empire. The Albanians did not necessarily despise the rule of Abdul Hamid or his Empire. They were after all â€Å"loyal subjects for 500 years† and always â€Å"felt secure,† within the Empire. They disagreed with the idea that they could not gain greater autonomy like the rest of the Balkan states around them. Abdul Hamid’s attempt at centralization infringed on the national aspirations of his subjects thus pan-Islamism was antithetical to granting self-government to the different segments of the Ottoman Empire. The Albanians wanted greater autonomy but this clearly ran counter to the Sultans plans of centralization via the medium of pan Islamism. The Sultan lost the support of the Albanians and this paved the way for the committee of union and progress to gain huge support in the Balkans (especially in Macedonia). This eventually led to the dethronement of the Sultan. The Sultans policy failed to confront a tough nationalism, and ultimately became his undoing.

The effect of the Internet on ordinary Media Essay Example for Free

The effect of the Internet on ordinary Media Essay After 20 years, to see how it has affected the usual ways of getting information, the study has been set up and was based on more than 3,000 interviews from adults aged 18 or older who had accessed the Internet in the past month. This research was conducted by 65 UK leading markets. More than 60 percent of the respondents to a survey chose the Internet for personal and special interest information needs, compared to 18 percent for magazines. When looking for work-related information, 48 percent of the respondents chose the Internet, and only 7 percent preferred magazines. The study also revealed that once consumers begin using the Web, they use it more frequently as their experience increases, and that these same users also tend to use traditional media sources significantly less. The research shows that exposure and experience with the Web is changing consumers fundamental attitude towards traditional media. In comparison with other media sources, we found that user control is a critical preference attribute of the Internet as a medium, providing individual control over content source, time of access, content depth and other parameters. The survey reveals that there is a fundamental shift in media consumption occurring, and traditional publishers will need to evolve as Web adoption and use increases. The first National Internet Study also examined the effect of Internet use on traditional media consumption. Almost 25 percent of online consumers indicated they watch television less often since they began using the Internet. Similar declines have also been reported in magazine reading: 20 percent, newspaper readership: 15 percent and radio listening: 9 percent. A small percentage of users consume traditional media more often radio: 11 percent, newspapers: 9 percent, magazines: 8 percent and TV/cable: 7 percent. The majority of online users stated they have not altered their traditional media consumption or they arent sure how it changed radio: 81 percent, newspapers: 75 percent, magazines: 72 percent and TV/cable: 70 percent. While the majority of online users report no change in their traditional media habits, the fact that substantial percentages of people report altered behaviour is evidence to the continuing evolution of consumer habits, said the president of the company on the Internet Research. In a relatively short period of time, Americans have adopted new ways of getting their news, doing their shopping and seeking entertainment. The appeal of online media will continue to grow as more American adults gain Internet access at home, at work or through portable devices. Nearly 25 percent of online users watch television less often since they began using the Internet. But 50 percent of Internet users report that a television is present in the same room as their computer. 91 percent with a TV in the same room where the Internet is used most often said they watched and surfed simultaneously. Over 25 percent of adults, aged 18 to 34, surf the Internet and always or often watch TV at the same time. With limited hours in a day, consumers seek out ways to maximise the value of their time. An opportunity exists for broadcast media who choose to offer more frequent programming that makes use of both the online environment as well as their traditional media.

Identification of Prednisolone Acetate

Identification of Prednisolone Acetate IDENTIFICATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF DRUG The procured prednisolone acetate was identified and characterized based on the following parameters. ORGANOLEPTIC PROPERTIES For the selected samples (drug + excipients) the following organoleptic properties were studied using descriptive terminology. Those were nature, odour and colour PARTITIONING BEHAVIOR OF PA IN DISTINCT LIPIDS: The percent partition coefficient of Prednisolone acetate in selected lipids was analyzed as elucidated elsewhere. On the part of the study/briefly, a mixture composed of melted lipid and 10mL of de-ionized water to this 10mg of PA was added. The resultant mixture was agitated reciprocally for one hour maintained at 50C above the lipid melting point. The quantity of lipid utilized was mentioned in table 1. The resultant dispersion was allowed to cool. Upon making cool both phases were separated by ultracentrifugation ( ) at 15,000 rpm and filtered. The drug content in supernatant was analyzed spectrophotometrically (240nm). The percent partition coefficient was predicted as follows: % partition = w1-w2/w1 x 100 W1 = Amount of drug added W2 = Amount of drug in aqueous phase DETERMINATION OF MELTING POINT PA melting point was determined by capillary method. Theoritical value was compared with practical value. LOSS ON DRYING This method measures the weight of volatile compounds or moisture of any kind which can be driven off under the specified conditions. Stoppered, shallow glass bottle was weighed and dried under the specified conditions. 2 grams of sample was accurately weighed and transferred to dried bottle. Then the loaded bottle was in electric oven, removed stopper and left near by it in drying chamber at 1050c for 2 hours at atmospheric pressure. After two hours the glass container was taken out from oven and weighed it again. The following formula was used for the calculation of LOD % LOD = Mass of test specimen – Mass of loaded bottle after drying/ Mass of sample – Mass of empty glass bottle IR SPECTROSCOPY OF DRUG Thin pellet was prepared using potassium bromide and drug in a ratio of 100:1 respectively. The molecular state of prednisolone acetate was studied using FTIR spectrometer. DSC PA thermogram was obtained in DSC 200 F3 Maia using empty aluminum pan as reference. The accurately weighed 2mg of sample was exposed to temperature range 0oc – 500oc under nitrogen atmosphere (flow rate: 60ml/min) at a heating rate of 10oc/min. UV-VISIBLE SPECTROPHOTOMETER (WAVE LENGTH SELECTION) 10mg of drug was dissolved in 100mL of simulated nasal electrolyte solution (SNES) which results in 100Â µg/ml concentration solution. From this 25 Â µg/ml was prepared. A few ml of this solution is transferred into cuvette (path length of 10mm cell) and scanned in the wave length range of 200-400nm against SNES as blank in double beam UV-Vis spectrophotometer. COMPATIBILITY STUDIES OF LIPID AND SURFACTANT MIXTURE The selected mixtures of lipid and surfactant, lipid and cosurfactant were blended at different ratios like 1:1, 2:1, 3:1 and 4:1. The blend was mixed for 10min and mixtures were observed visually for clarity (or) absence of turbidity. SOLUBILITY STUDIES OF PREDNISOLONE ACETATE The solubility of drug was estimated in different buffers, lipids, surfactant mixture ratios and solvents which are essential during development of formulation. IN DIFFERENT LIPIDS Test tube method was used for analysis of PA solubility in several solid lipids. To determine it 10mg of drug was placed to a test tube and temperature was maintained 50c higher/above the lipid melting point. The lipid was added an increase in quantity of 10mg till PA was solubilized completely and quantity of solid lipid needed for dissolution of drug was determined. IN VARIOUS RATIOS OF SURFACTANT MIXTURE The solubility of prednisolone acetate was investigated in numerous surfactant and co-surfactant ratios range from 1:1 to 4:1(Sur: Co-sur- Sur: Co-sur). Solubility studies were analyzed by adding an excess amount of PA in a 20 mL screw capped containers consisting different ratios of 10mL of each surfactant mixture. The mixtures were vortexed on orbital shaker at 50 rpm for 2 days at 37oc to enhance solubilization. After attaining equilibrium the samples were ultracentrifuged at 12,000 rpm for 30 min to separate the undissolved drug (PA) and supernatant was filtered through whatman filter paper. HPLC grade methanol was used to dilute the supernatant sample and these were filtered with 0.45 Â µm membrane filter. Then, the diluted samples were used to quantify the PA by UV-Vis spectrophotometer at 240nm. IN DIFFERENT SOLVENTS AND BUFFERS The excess quantity of drug was added to 10ml of different solvents includes pH 6, 6.4, 7, 7.4, 8 phosphate buffer, ethanol, double distilled water and methanol in a 25ml volumetric flask. Then flasks were properly capped and agitated at 37Â ±0.5oc in orbital shaker for 48 hours. The samples were filtered through whatman filter paper. The filtrate was diluted using suitable diluent and again filtered using 0.45Â µm membrane filters. Then samples were analyzed at 240nm by UV spectrophotometer. ds COMPATIBILITY STUDIES OF DRUG AND EXCIPIENTS The selected excipients were listed in GRAS (Generally recognized as safe by FDA) and used in various pharmaceutical formulations. Which are procured from reputed national and international manufacturers. The study of compatibility between drug and excipients was followed as. DSC METHOD : Differential scanning calorimetry was carried out using DSC F3 Maia instrument to analyze the melting transitions and heat capacity changes of drug alone and physical mixtures. The physical mixtures were prepared by triturating the PA and excipients in the ratio of 1:10 in a mortar for five minutes. The samples (5mg) were loaded in aluminum pans, sealed hermitically and heated under inert gas i.e. nitrogen at the flow rate of 60mL /min at 10oc/min heating rate ranges/set from 0 oc to 500 oc. The standard reference was an empty alumina crucible. The above said parameters/ conditions were used to analyze the samples and thermograms of DSC recorded/ data recorded using proteus software. Samples analyzed for DSC and FTIR were followed as The above physical mixtures compatibility was also found by adding desired quantity of mixture in glass vials and subjected to 60 oc for 30 days. The physical appearance of mixture was not changed at the end of the study. FTIR API was mixed with different excipients separately and spectral analysis was carried out using FTIR to study the placebo interference. The pressed pellet method was used to study the FTIR spectral studies. In this analysis, test-excipient mixture and potassium bromide were taken in the ratio of 1:100. The mixture when placed in hydraulic press under vacuum pressure of 800 mPa resulted in the formation of compressed thin transparent disc. The molecular states of samples were traced/determined between 4000-1000 cm-1 using Bruker FTIR spectrophotometer. The obtained IR spectra’s were evaluated to determine interactions. The data mentioned in table . Graphical representation shown/given in figure . METHOD DEVELOPMENT OF PREDNISOLONE ACETATE A survey of literature had showed that different instrumental methods like UV, HPLC, and HPTLC were reported for the quantification of prednisolone acetate. The present research work focused on development of UV spectroscopic method for dissolution samples estimation and HPLC for drug content, dissolution and bioanalytical quantification. Preparation of simulated nasal electrolyte solution(SNES) A solution of SNES was prepared by adding 8.77g of sodium chloride, 2.98g of potassium chloride, 0.45g of calcium chloride in water and finally made the volume to 100 mL resulting in pH 5.5. UV-Vis METHOD Stock solution prepartion 100mg of test sample was accurately weighed, transferred into 100 mL volumetric flask. To this little quantity of ethanol was added to dissolve the sample and made the volume up to 100ml using SNES (pH5.5) to get 1000Â µg/ml concentration stock solution. Prepartion of Linearity plot From the above stock solution 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5ml were transferred in separate 100 mL volumetric flasks and diluted up to the mark with SNES to produce 5, 10,15, 20, 25 Â µg/ml concentrations respectively. The absorbance of each concentration was recorded in 1cm cell with SNES as blank at 240nm using Shimadzu, UV spectrophotometer. This procedure was done over for 3 times. With concentration on x-axis and absorbance on y-axis a calibration graph was constructed. Inter day and intraday studies were carried out for the determination of accuracy and precision using 1,5,10 Â µg/ml standard concentration solutions. The readings were tabulated in table and figure . HPLC METHOD PSEUDOTERNARY PHASE DIAGRAM CNSTRUCTION To construct the phase diagrams (prosim 1.0 software) hot water titration method was used. Through these phase diagrams components concentration range was investigated which can be results in existence of large microemulsion area. The surfactants used were tween 80,60,20, Cremophor RH40 and cosurfactants were ethanol, PEG 400. The surfactant and cosurfactants was blended in fixed weight ratios such as 1:1, 2:1, 3:1, 4:1. Solid lipids were tristearin, tripalmitin, GMS, stearic acid, Palmitic acid, cetyl palmitate. Lipid was melted at 65oc to this required quantity of hot surfactant mixture was added followed by adding water drop by drop to mixture under stirring with magnetic stirrer until turbidity formed. DEVELOPMENT OF DRUG LOADED MICROEMULSIONS From each phase diagram ME area was calculated by using CAD software. From each lipid, based on the above area values highest area of phase diagram was selected then the ME formulations were taken at required component weight ratios. The procedure of desired microemulsion was as follows. Required amount of lipid heated at 65oc in this 10mg of PA was dissolved. Heated SM and water was added to the above melted lipid mixture under stirring. The mixture was categorized as microemulsions if melt was appeared clear. Then mixture was considered as microemulsion. SOLID LIPID NANOPARTICLES PREPAR TION USING PROBE SONICATOR PA SLNs were prepared by hot lipid microemulsion technique. Drug loaded ME procedure was aforementioned in page No . 2mL of loaded ME was taken in a glass syringe using 22 gauge needle. Then it was added dropwise to a 3mL of cold de-ionized water under ice bath (2-4oc) and sonicated by probe sonicator for different time periods (5, 10, 15 min) specified by box behnken design at 200w amplitude to solidify the SLNs. The tip diameter of probe 8mm was dipped in liquid of 10mm leads to reflecting upwards and wave moving downwards. DRUG CONTENT (ASSAY) DETERMINATION 1 mL of solid dispersion from the formulations selected for evaluation was transferred into 10mL volumetric flask and diluted up to the mark with methanol. Then the solution was subjected to ultracentrifugation for 15 min at 10,000 rpm. Then the supernatant was aspirated, filtered, suitably diluted and measured the absorbance at ÃŽ »max 243nm. The results given in Table HR TEM The surface morphology of prepared SLNs like particle size, particle shape and aggregation were analyzed by HRTEM operating at 120kv voltage. The samples were diluted properly, stained by 2% phosphotungistic acid. A drop of aqueous dispersion was placed /mounted on carbon coated 400mesh copper grids which is to be allowed for 5 min to dry the nanoparticles on grid before examination under IR lamp/AIR DRY and TEM images were recorded with mangnification range from 11500-50000x. PARTICLE POTENTIAL, SIZE AND POLYDISPERSITY INDEX(PI) For the prepared SLNs the mean particle size, zeta potential and PI were performed by dynamic light scattering (DLS) with a zetasizer Nano – ZS90 (Malvern application center, banglore), model ZEN 3690 and equipped with 4mW, 633nm He-Ne laser. The measurements were made at the following conditions: Refractive index of medium: 1.330 Dielectric constant value: 78.5 Viscosity of dispersion medium: 0.8872 Temperature: 250c Then the samples (100Â µl) were diluted to 1mL with de-ionized water to prevent multi scattering and transferred in to a disposable zeta cuvettes to record the particle size. The size measurement angle was 900. The PI value was used to determine particle size distribution. The same instrument was used for the determination of zeta potential using an laser Doppler electrophoresis technique. Zeta potential value was calculated from the mean mobility of electrophoresis values by henry equation. The measurements were done in triplicate. ENTRAMENT EFFICIENCY % EE of the PA was studied by determining the unentrapped drug concentration in supernatant layer(aqueous layer). Accurately measured 5ml of (equivalent to 10mg of PA) nanoparticle dispersion was transferred to eppendorf centrifuge tubes and centrifuged at 15000 rpm for 30 min at -3oc using ultra cooling centrifuge. Then the supernatant was separated, diluted appropriately using SNES and filtered using 0.45 Â µm membrane filter. The filtered samples were estimated by using UV spectrophotometer at ÃŽ »max 240nm against blank. Encapsulation efficiency was determined using the equation. % EE = Quantity of drug added – weight of drug in aqueous phase/ mass of drug added x 100 INVITRO DIFFUSION STUDIES Dialysis bag method was used to determine invitro diffusion release profile of PA and using a USP dissolution apparatus II. Before using dialysis membrane was soaked in SNES for 12 hours and the molecular cutoff of membrane was between 12000-14000. The following conditions were used to carry out diffusion studies. The run speed of paddle: 100 rpm Diffusion medium: SNES (pH 5.5) Volume of medium: 500mL Temperature: 37Â ±0.5oc Time intervals: The SLNs dispersion containing the 10mg/5mL(amount equivalent to one dose of drug) was transferred in dialysis bag and tied at both ends. Then the it was suspended in the receptor compartment containing SNES pH 5.5. An aliquot of 5ml samples were removed at fixed time points from receptor medium. The same volume of fresh buffer was replaced after every time point to maintain constant buffer volume. The fresh buffer was also maintained at the same temperature(37Â ±0.5oc ) similar to sample. The PA concentration was estimated using UV-Visible spectrophotometer at 240nm against blank (SNES). The final optimized sample concentration was further determined by HPLC. The selected formulation results data were shown in Table and graphical representation in figure RELEASE KINETICS The release mechanism of drug from solid lipid nanoparticles were analyzed and determined by fitting the invitro release data to different kinetic models includes Zero, first order, higuchi and peppas-korsemayer. References UV-VISIBLE E.G.C. Clarke, Isolation and Identifeation of Drugs, volume 1 , The Pharmaceutical Press, London, 1978, p. 270

The Bridge to an Electric Future Essays -- Alternative Energy

There is little argument that electricity plays a pivotal role in the future of transportation. The electric vehicle is not a new concept. Over 100 years ago Thomas Edison experimented with the electric car, which made use of his newly, developed nickel-iron battery. Edison would charge his electric vehicles at night so he could drive during the day (Roman, 2011). In 1915 Henry Ford and Thomas Edison abandoned development of the electric automobile (Orr, 1967). The project was abandoned because the technology did not exist to make an electric car that could parallel their gasoline-powered cousins. To be practical an electric vehicle will need to compact or full sized with a 250-mile range. This will meet the needs of most American families (Orr, 1967). Although we are on the cusp of technological feasibility, the practical electric vehicle will require development of standards, technologies and infrastructure to support them. A less drastic near term move can be made. Practical elect ric cars are out of reach due to the limitations of current technology, one solution would be to use alternative fuel engines until technology catches up. â€Å"The American consumer is wedded to his automobile in its present form as he is to no other product† (Orr, 1967, p. 51). Citizens in every country around the world depend vehicles to provide essentials and luxuries in a carefully choreographed, just in time, economic infrastructure that is powered by one thing, petroleum. Currently, consumers can refuel their gasoline vehicles in a matter of minutes and drive anywhere they want for as long as they want with little concern about their next fuel stop. In 2009, transportation accounted for 72% of U.S. petroleum consumption meeting 94% of transportatio... ...gin.aspx?direct=true&db=buh&AN=47784777&site=ehost-live Mazratti, M., & Shelbi, H. (2011). Impact of alternative fuels and advanced technology vehicles on demand in the United States up to 2030. OPEC Energy Review, 35(1) , 70-89. doi:10.1111/j.1753-0237.2010.00184.x Orr, L. D. (1967). The electric car: Economics and technology. Business Horizons, 10(2), 47-56. doi:Retrieved from Roman, H. T. (2011). The electric cars challenge. Technology and Engineering Teacher, 71(1), 22-24. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db= eric&AN=EJ941851&site=ehost-live United States Department of Energy. (2012). Ethanol. Retrieved from http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/ethanol.shtml United States Environmental Protection Agency. (2002). Clean alternative fuels: Electric vehicles. Retrieved from http://www.epa.gov/otaq/consumer/fuels/altfuels/420f00034.pdf

Hunger :: essays research papers

Do You Think the Boy’s Mother Made the Proper Choice in Dealing with Her Son?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Richard Wright’s â€Å"Hunger†, a mother is forced with a difficult decision. Should she â€Å"baby† her child and prevent him from fighting, or should she encourage him to fight and â€Å"stand up like a man†? Unfortunately, the mother’s decision is a clear one. The mother tells the boy to stand up for himself and fight back.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The story â€Å"Hunger† is a story with a very clear message. The message of this story is that a person at any age, instead of hiding from his problems, must face his or her problems. In â€Å"Hunger†, the reader understands how to make a living and support himself or herself. After the father of the boy leaves him, the boy and his mother had to become the householders. Wright, very clearly, describes the situation of the boy’s family situation. The main characters are the mother and her son.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The author of this story describes how the mother sends her son to the grocery store. On his way to the grocery store, the boy is attacked by a couple of neighborhood boys. When the boy comes home and tells his mother what happens, the mother tells the boy that he must stand up for himself by sending him to the store to face the boys. Every time the boy goes to the store, the neighborhood boys would beat him up. Finally, the boy got tired of getting beaten and defends himself: he beats the boys with a stick The boy finally wins â€Å"the right to the streets of Memphis† meaning that that night, he won the right of being safe on the streets of where he lived, Memphis.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The mother plays a very important part in this story. The mother from the beginning of the story is dealt with a difficult decision of how to feed her 2 boys after her husband leaves her. Since the husband worked, he brought food into the house, but when he left, there was no one who worked. The mother had to get a job, which made her tired. When the mother came home from work tired, she would send the boy to the store. When the mother found out that the neighborhood boys were beating up her son, she repeatedly sent him to the store, so he faces the boys and learns to stand up for himself.

Consequences of Exploration for Europeans and the Indigenous Peoples Essay

In 1492, Christopher Columbus landed in the Caribbean bearing the name of the Spanish Crown in hopes that he had landed in the Indies of Asia using a direct sea route. Though that is not where he landed, his â€Å"New World† was a place of great wealth, new materials and crops, new source of labor, and new land for the European nations. The consequences for the native people of the Americas were much worse with devastating death tolls, enslavement, new diseases and racist attitudes towards them. Though it would not be fair to say that the Europeans did not share in negative consequences or that the indigenous people did not gain any advantages. The greatest negative consequences for the Europeans due to the European expansion are a devastating economic revolution, and the introduction of the venereal disease Syphilis. Once the Spanish began to mine the precious ores of America the wealth of Spain underwent a major transformation. Demanding one-fifth of all profit, the Crown became immensely rich and this showed in their influence on the rest of Europe, seeing that other countries now lacked the material wealth of Spain. Throughout this time of great wealth the population rose steadily in Spain. With population increase, came an increased demand for food and merchandise. Spain had expelled a large amount of their skilled farmers, workers, merchants and businessmen during the Inquisition when they cleansed their country of the Jewish and Muslim people. Along with the demand in Spain, the demand for Spanish and European products in the Americas also became hard to keep up with. With the ever-increasing influx of silver bullion the prices in Spain began to rise and the inflation quadrupled the prices of everything within thirty years. In 1556, Martin de Azpilcueta Navarro, a Spanish canon lawyer, writes about the influx of American silver as the cause of the inflation. We see by experience that in France, where money is scarcer than in Spain, bread, wine, cloth, and labour are worth much less. And even in Spain, in times when money was scarcer, saleable goods and labour were given for very much less than after the discovery of the Indies, which flooded the country with gold and silver. The reason for this is that money is worth more where and when it is scarce than where and when it is abundant. Along with this, the Spanish king Philip II spent more money on outside enterprises to worsen his countries debt. When needing to pay his debt to other countries, he also paid in silver bullion spreading the inflation to the rest of Europe. The discovery of the Americas led Europe to inflation and increased prices and Spain to almost complete debt by the seventeenth century. Besides silver and gold, the native people of the Americas passed Syphilis on to the Spanish who came to settle there. In five year time, Syphilis had spread to Russia from the European Atlantic coast. Though it could not be proven, Syphilis is thought to have originated in Espaniola because no evidence of Syphilis exists in Europe before 1493. These open sores, boils, and aches in the joints caused excruciating pains to many Europeans due to this quickly widespread venereal disease. The only proven effective way to treat Syphilis was from drinking the boiled bark of the guaiacum tree which only grew in Espaniola. Though no exact numbers were calculated for Syphilis it could not be compared to the death tolls that the European diseases left on the Indian populations. â€Å"In a period of 130 years, something like 95 percent of all Native Americans died of disease. That number is far greater than experts (until recently) had ever suspected. The Native Americans who survived the plagues were, of course, completely demoralized and depressed by this tremendous loss of their loved ones, of their lifestyle, and of their ancient culture. â€Å"(Bib 2. ) The 95 percent population loss of the Natives was staggering compared to probably one percent death caused by Syphilis. Thus though Syphilis was a negative consequence of European expansion it proved minor compare to the Indigenous peoples loss due to European disease. Besides new crops and animals the indigenous people were introduced to new religions, medicines and ways of life that helped better themselves. Christianity was introduced to the indigenous people thanks to very ardent Catholicism from the Spanish and Portuguese. These Christians taught of love, equality and a heaven after death for those who acted well on earth. For many indigenous people this religion called to them and they were converted. Those who did not convert voluntarily were either forced to convert or killed. The native people actually became very passionate about this religion and even followed religious doctrines more closely than the Spanish conquistadors. The natives began to spread peace and love as a bigger doctrine than territory fighting which shows how religion was a positive outcome from European expansion. New technology and medicine helped more effectively cure the local people and brought new light to the topic. In Pre-Colombian times the Indian populations would come to the ailing and stay by their side through illness thus probably catching the illness themselves, the Europeans taught to isolate the sick and better medicines to treat them. The lives that new medicines saved in the Americas is immeasurable but probably still do not compare to the lives lost from European diseases. New technologies such as guns, steel and sailing equipment helped build stronger weapons than the ones previously possessed by Indians, and a new material from which objects could be made. Very strong steel could be used to make protection from swords and swords themselves thus fortifying indigenous peoples’ ability to make weapons, protect themselves, and hunt. Many thousands of things brought from Europe helped make indigenous life better such as candles to light the night and paper so writing and language could be better developed. Though much understated there were many positive outcomes from European expansion to the indigenous people of the Americas and even a few negative outcomes for the Europeans themselves. More often than not, when talking about the European expansion into America, the Europeans seem to get much better rewards from their expansion. And they actually did. They reaped much higher rewards from their conquest of the Americas than the indigenous people, yet it cannot be forgotten that both peoples’ had multiple sides to their gains and losses due to European expansion. Bibliography Quotes: {draw:frame} 1. â€Å"Why were Native Americans so vulnerable to European diseases? (article). † Articles on how to feel good more often and get more done. Web. 10 Oct. 2009. http://www. youmeworks. com/why_native_americans. html. Galloway, J. H. The Sugar Cane Industry An Historical Geography from its Origins to 1914 (Cambridge Studies in Historical Geography). New York: Cambridge UP, 2005. Print. American Indian past and present. Norman: University of Oklahoma, 2008. Print. Other Info: â€Å"Spanish colonization of the Americas -. † Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Web. 11 Oct. 2009. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Spanish_colonization_of_the_Americas. â€Å"Native Americans in the United States – European colonization. † Spiritus-Temporis. com – Historical Events, Latest News, News Archives. Web. 11 Oct. 2009. http://www. spiritus-temporis. com/native-americans-in-the-united-states/european-colonization. html.

The AXE Man

Advertisement, itself, is a creative genre in these post-modern days of ideas. If people in the future were to search for artifacts of our culture, in hopes of finding something that gives them insight into our culture and our life, they will be able to see what we leave behind in this consumer-driven world. Our ancestors left behind arrow heads and pottery, and we will leave behind a lot more that can easily communicate about who we are and what is important to us. Commercials and the products they advertise are some of the most important cultural artifacts in our society. They communicate what is important to or influences our culture, the good and the bad, because within any culture it is natural for the many different aspects of that culture to be portrayed on the screen or the page, from our stereotypes and biases, to what makes us proud and what makes us ashamed. One commercial that seems to represent an artifact of American culture is the recent AXE commercial, where a young man on a beach begins to spray AXE cologne, attracting literally hundreds of buxom beauties in bikinis, with the slogan being â€Å"Spray more, Get more†. The implications here about the way our culture stereotypes gender and what types of images we find to be suitable becomes part of the artifact and what it stands for in our culture. The first part of the advert shows a woman running in a wilderness. The first question that comes to mind is if this is a spoof of the new Mel Gibson movie â€Å"Apocalypto†? The theme of said movie is the hunter-hunted type of thriller where the protagonist is always on the run (from an AXE man perhaps? ). This is further implied by the choice of music – â€Å"Deus Irae† by Karl Jenkins which appears on his album â€Å"Requiem†. But then the video shows something else. There are many more than women running and therefore this is something else. The women are all focused with the task of reaching the goal first. They are single-minded indeed, to the point of being obsessed with whatever it is that made them run in the first place. All are jockeying for position and intense shoving and pushing is seen in the first few seconds. The second thing that hits the viewer is the fact that the women are not properly clad. If they are indeed going for a late afternoon jog then where is the sports wear needed to do the job? It is not usually normal to run with skimpy clothing! Then the next thing that hits the viewer is the fact that these are not only a group of young women running but it is actually a swarm. The multitude running together indicates mass hysteria. At this point the audience is becoming interested to know what this anarchy is all about; are they hunting for something? Again similarities can be drawn with â€Å"Apocalypto†. The next scene makes the video a bit confusing as a shot is taken from the other side of the terrain – a shot of the ocean where a similar number of horde of women are swimming frantically towards the shore. For a minute there one thinks that this may be something about the â€Å"Iron Woman† competition. But then it becomes clear as the video gives a top shot that shows where all the women are heading. The swarm is converging on the shore where a solitary male figure was spraying AXE cologne, specifically AXE Lynx. And the text flashed in the end saying, â€Å"Spray more. Get more. † If the AXE commercials are to be marked as anything of immediate interest, the popular tags that come to mind immediately are â€Å"pornographic advert† or â€Å"advert with sexual overtones. † Such terms are quite befitting as we find the women who are running from different topographical extremes have svelte, well-maintained physiques with sexual appeal, and the man on the beach stands armed with AXE cologne to attract more such women by spraying more of the heart-smashing fragrance. Commercials stand as an important artifact that can be used to understand a culture, and this commercial in particular says a lot about certain gender-related issues. Commercials such as this are not only for entertainment value, they are subconsciously sending messages to a population of people that view what they see on television as truth and fact. Someday, people will study such commercials in search of something historically or culturally important to our generation and will quickly realize that for all of our advances in our way of thinking and our technology, we were still submitting ourselves to the humiliation of gender-related stereotypes and sexually explicit material. If sexual excesses are not used deliberately, then why has such a slogan been floated in the air: Spray more, Get more? Is it not somewhat pornographic, tickling the fancy of men with the promise of winning an armful of femme fatales at one sprinkle of AXE? Why again a horde of belles are needed with immense sexual charms if no sexual implications are intended? When a condom, a bra or lingerie is advertised, the same types of images are blatantly paraded across the television screen, the sexual overtones not even subtle anymore. Even in odd places do we see such use of sexuality to sell a product, like the commercials that are for car insurance but are cartoons, using the cartoon character of a cute, busty girl to try and sell insurance for someone’s automobile. Even Pizza Hut commercials use Jessica Simpson’s sexuality to sell pizza, and Pepsi has been notorious for using stars such as Madonna to sell their product. The fact is that sex sells. Thus, if categorically the artifact is to be judged, then it is a piece of advertisement in the first place and then it is pornographic i. e. an advert with sexual overtones. In my view, whatever nomenclature may be piled on the term â€Å"advertisement†, it is a creative way of presenting an object or a commodity. So I would like to call it innovative advertisement. If we move a step further we will be able to see that innovative and sexually-exploitive adverts apply to all sorts of business tricks to catch the consumer youth. There is yet another genre that this advert falls into, and that is humorous. Despite its sexual overtones, the commercial is filmed in such a way that, at first glance, it appears to be harmless, comedic tone and all. The public seems to be very forgiving of any images or messages that are not politically correct when there is humor involved, as in this case. There is no complaining from the public even if a salacious picture or video clipping is used in order to make a commodity attractive to the target audience. It may appear denigrating in the eye of a few thoughtful, conservative people, but to hit the bull’s eye of consumerism, it is a weapon, a necessity, the need of the hour. In fact, this advert was shown only once on British television prior to a World Cup football game where it has reached near cult status. I never considered myself to be a conservative person, not even a little bit. I really thought the AXE commercial to be a great one with a sense of humor, but after I observed it many times closely, there were several things really bothering me. While it is common knowledge that marketers are using sex to sell their products, the issue that arises with this commercial is that it tried to hide the sexual content behind the product itself. The text did not imply anything sexual and therefore no one can accuse AXE of intentionally telling men of the benefits of using their cologne in terms of their becoming attractive sexually, but the imagery is enough to convince the viewer that it is selling the product through sex. In other words, AXE is using the fantasies of young men to bring them in as consumers of their product by promising them, visually, that there is something about their product that attracts women. If there is a law regulating sexual themes in advertising then it seems that the AXE advert is trying to beat the system. Those who do not agree with the blatant use of sex in advertising, be it implied or explicit, must heed the words of Tom Reichert when he wrote, â€Å"†¦other forms of sexual information is woven into ads [†¦] sexual content can vary in form and meaning, it is important to provide an overview of recurring representations of sex in advertising† (Reichert, 2003). The bone of contention here is how to draw the line between what is acceptable and what is not. J. Sivulka had warned that â€Å"when scholars have explained the changing nature of sex in advertising, they have often viewed this shift as an evolution from a relatively innocent representation of a sexually alluring woman to a new type of image, in which sex is explicit† (Sivulka, 2003). The world it seems is divided over what kind of judgment to give this sort of TV commercial, but fo r those who are looking for substance there is only one verdict. For those who are tired of being given information that is not based on truth but rather on assumptions and pop culture, the verdict is not positive. In the AXE commercial the first thing that does not escape the viewer is the stereotyping of the female. Geral Tellis observed that, â€Å"One of the most common criticisms of advertising is the gender stereotyping [†¦] endorsers are typically presented as young, beautiful, and sexually attractive†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Tellis, 2004). As a female watching this commercial I felt it not only was the dreaded stereotyping being used but also the fact that women were depicted as not having the intellect to comprehend what was going on and furthermore, that women were not valued for their intellect at all, but for their appearance. The women were portrayed like buffoons, parading themselves with no regard for their self-worth, with no obvious intelligence (in direct contrast with the ‘Iron Woman’ comparison). Instead of showing a commercial where the images show an intelligent, well-mannered male using AXE cologne and attracting an intellectual and strong woman, we are bombarded with yet more images of the stereotypical buxom bimbo and in my opinion, that is an insult to the feminists out there who are championing woman’s equal rights, access to power and control. The AXE commercial made them look like they have no ability whatsoever to control their destiny, much alone their lives and they are purely driven by instincts. Lorraine Code asserts that this kind of reaction is not new and she wrote that in fact, â€Å"In the 1970s feminists criticized advertisements for portraying stereotypical images of women†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Code, 2000). Forget about the feminist stereotype, what is disturbing about the way women were depicted in the AXE ad is the fact that there is no truth to what was being communicated. Granting that commercials are not supposed to be whole truths, still the fact that something can be created wholly out of imagination is a bit of a stretch. Adding another aspect of then forcing people to accept it or maybe worse, manipulating people to behave in a certain way are actions not acceptable for a highly influential medium. A casual survey of the real world will immediately inform the observer that women do not behave like those in the said commercial. If the producer of the AXE commercial would come back and say that this is the whole point; that making fantastic claims and using pure creative imagination to sell something is the reality of advertising, then it is going to be hard to argue that line of reasoning. Even if this were the case, not everybody will agree with the producer. Many believe that advertising is no longer a neutral medium but that it is an artifact that has the capacity to transform society, especially how people think, and therefore it is a medium to be regulated. If one allows the producer of the AXE commercial the benefit of the doubt, that there was no intention to demean women and to insult their intelligence, then the problem keeps on compounding because the next group that would be insulted by this commercial is the male population, because while it is common to hear women being exploited, more and more men are being devalued by the media as well. There is a movement out there that forces the world to recognize the place of women in society. It is almost a normal experience to constantly hear of women being abused and misrepresented, but it may be taken for granted that men can also be stereotyped. That there is a whole assumption out there that men are savages and no smarter than wild beasts who are being controlled by their carnal instincts would be insulting to me if I was male, and I cannot believe that the media can stereotype both genders in such simple terms. To be honest, however, no man would stand up and say that his reputation is on the line because of such media exploitation. For them, it is somewhat absurd, but if truth can be told and truth be the standard of knowing what must be done in this society then someone has to point out the problem with the AXE commercial. What exactly is wrong about it in terms of the male image is that this time men are not depicted as buffoons in the same way that the ladies were depicted running around half-naked and half-crazed when a potent brew aroused their senses and they could not control themselves. This time men were assumed to be buffoons, period. This assumption is basically a belief that when men will see the commercial then they will not stop to think and evaluate what is being projected on screen. They will simply instinctively pick up their wallets, head for the store and buy a crate full of AXE cologne – and â€Å"spray more†. It is interesting to note that marketers are well aware of what they are doing to the male stereotype and the projection of an image that will make men want to buy the cologne. As suggested by Stephen Fox in his study of the history of American advertising, marketers in the past made the generalization that, â€Å"†¦all men are fools† (Fox, 1997). They have expanded this theory into something more useful, â€Å"†¦that while men may be fools and sinners, they are everlastingly on the search for that which is good† (Fox, 1997). Advertising is the guide that leads them to the path of bliss and truth; yet, there is one more weakness of the male psyche that is being exploited here, but it must first be understood that this commercial was not created with the general public in mind. It is quite probable that the target-segment are young men between puberty and their twenties. It is possible that the target-market are adolescent males who lack the confidence to take their place in the world and establish relationships with the opposite sex and therefore need a touch of courage, in this case in the form of AXE cologne. There is evidence pointing to the fact that the target market is indeed the teenager segment of the population. Buddenberg pointed out that, â€Å"†¦despite being more knowledgeable about advertising, teens are still very susceptible to it† (Buddenberg, 2004). Fox enumerated the common behaviors considered normal for teens: a) struggle with sense of identity; b) feeling awkward or strange about one’s self and one’s body; c) concerns regarding physical and sexual attractiveness to others; and, d) worries about being normal (Fox, 1997). If Fox’s theory proves right then what a powerful effect the AXE commercial must be having on the minds of the teenage males that watch it. The video suggests achieving power and control where there is none – by simply spraying more AXE. To be fair, however, I must say that the humorous nature of the commercial was, even to me, funny at the beginning and I did not take it serious on first glance. The women, making funny faces and rushing this geeky-looking young man whose eyes are huge as he watches the scene unfold before him was more of a comedic event than anything. In this way, the producer of this commercial was not, perhaps, trying to use stereotypes about men and women to influence our culture, but perhaps just trying to make an impression, something that is hard to do in a society filled with a flood of advertisements at every turn. Despite my misgivings about the commercial, I do not remember any other cologne commercials vividly, only AXE, and perhaps that was the point all along. The advertisement used in this study can make people react in many different ways. The more important issue to address is the potential offensive effect of the commercial to both men and women, at least to those who are sensitive enough to really analyze the content of the video. The problem with the video is that it depicts women as stupid and at the same time assumes that young men are stupid enough to believe what they are seeing and will not take the time to verify it. Moreover, the commercial is trying to hide its sexual content and that is not acceptable for those who are shielding children and the rest of the public from too much exposure to indecency. Still, at the core of the problem is the unceasing evolution of advertising. This time what is perceived to be improper will soon change in a few years time. This will continue until one day, parents and concerned citizens will one day wake up to see sex in advertising being shown explicitly without shame. At some point, American advertising will turn the corner and, just as now, we will simply sit back, watch, hence evolving as viewers too, and let the images convince us of something just as ridiculous as the assumptions made in the AXE cologne commercial. Having said that, however, the public is not as taken in by adverts as we once were and so advertisers may be responding accordingly by making adverts more humorous, shocking and ridiculous in order to capture our attention and remember the product in question which is being advertised. Then just as the advert may be mocking women and/or men it may just as easily be merely ‘tongue in cheek’ and using the satirical content to try and get the consumer to simply buy a product which makes you smell nice! So, whether it be gender stereotyped, intellectually backward or in direct contrast, intellectually superior in order to be able to appreciate the humor in the AXE advert and not take it too seriously, the artifacts our commercial culture is leaving behind are, sadly, not a representation of who we really are, but who were are told to be.

Introductory Accounting Assignment

ACCT 2060 Introductory Accounting Assignment – Semester 2, 2011 This assignment is designed to get you to locate the Annual Reports for a company and become familiar with the contents of an Annual Report, particularly the financial statements and the notes to the financial statements. While we have looked at very basic formats of the financial statements, the financial statements for a company contain a little more detail and information on some items you may not have been introduced to yet.Pay particular attention to the information provided in the notes to the financial statements as you will find a lot of useful information in them that may help with some of the questions. REQUIRED: You are required to obtain the 2010 Annual Report of Blackmores Limited and then answer the questions that follow in Part A and Part B. PART A – THE COMPANY (8 x 1 = 8 marks) Question 1 Describe the company’s principal operating activities. Ans: Blackmores Limited manufactures & de velops health products. [Ref: Blackmores AR Report August 2010, Page 2]Question 2 An auditing firm will have received remuneration for their services. What services did the auditing firm provide for this company in 2010? Ans: The auditing firm, DELOITTE TOUCHE TOHMATSU, audited the Remuneration Report included in pages 41 to 48 of the directors’ report for the year ended 30  June 2010. Their  responsibility is to express an opinion on the Remuneration Report, based on their audit conducted in accordance with Australian Auditing Standards. [Ref: Blackmores AR Report August 2010, Page 41 to 48, Page 50 and 51] Question 3Using the 2010 Annual Report, identify the number of the note that deals with Significant Accounting Policies and identify the method of depreciation the company uses to depreciate property, plant and equipment. What is the underlying assumption of this method in relation to the usefulness of property, plant and equipment? Ans: Total numbers of notes dealing with Significant Accounting Policies are 22. [Ref: Blackmores AR Report August 2010, Page 58 – 64]. The method of depreciation the company adopt onto depreciation of property, plant and equipment is the straight-line method.The underlying assumption is that the residual value is estimated based on the cost of asset over the expected useful life. Freehold land is not depreciated. The following estimated useful lives are used in the calculation of depreciation: †¢ Buildings 25–40 years †¢ Leasehold improvements 3–13 years †¢ Plant and equipment 3–20 years [Ref: Blackmores AR Report August 2010, Page 59]. Question 4 The annual report contains a number of reports with only some of these being ‘financial reports’. Name all of the financial reports in the 2010 annual report shown for this company in their annual report.Ans: The financial reports in the 2010 annual report are Statement of Financial position as at 30 June 2010, Statem ent of Comprehensive Income for the. Statement of Changes in Equity and Statement of cash flows. [Ref: Blackmores AR Report August 2010, Page 53-57]. Question 5 Directors of the company will often own shares in the company as well. Identify the name of the chairman of the board of directors and identify the number of shares the chairman held in the company at the end of their 2010 financial year (financial year ends June 30, 2010). Ans:Chairman of the board of directors is Marcus C Blackmore AM [Ref: Blackmores AR Report August 2010, Page 36]. The number of fully paid ordinary shares he has is 4,479,278 [Ref: Blackmores AR Report August 2010, Page 38]. Question 6 Describe the purpose of the external auditor’s report. Ans: The external auditor’s report is to ensure that the financial reports produced by Blackmores internally are true & fair, complete & accurate. [Ref: Blackmores AR Report August 2010, Page 51]. Question 7 With reference to the consolidated entity: †¢ What is the total amount of revenue and other income in 2010? What are the two revenue items? †¢ What is the ‘other income’ comprised of? (You must refer to the relevant note to find the answer to this. ) Ans: The total amount of revenue and other income in 2010 is $217,093,000 The two revenue items are Sales and Royalties. The ‘other income’ comprises of bank deposits / Net foreign exchange gains. [Ref: Blackmores AR Report August 2010, Page 53 and 67]. Question 8 Again with reference to the consolidated entity: †¢ What is the amount of cash receipts from customers in 2010? †¢ Why does this amount differ from the 2010 sales figure? Ans:The amount of cash receipts from customers is 2010 is $237,522,000 The amount differ from the 2010 sales figures as not all customer pay cash on payment, some may pay on credit which result in account receivable. [Ref: Blackmores AR Report August 2010, Page 57]. PART B – Analysis of financial informa tion (12 marks) Question 1 (4 marks) Using the consolidated figures for Blackmores Ltd, calculate the following ratios for the years 2009 and 2010. Ratios are to be shown at one decimal place. You must show all your workings. (Where no workings are shown you will receive zero for this section): . Current ratio ii. Acid test ratio iii. Gearing ratio iv. Interest cover ratio Ans: Current ratio = Current assets / Current liabilities Acid ratio = Current assets (excluding inventory and prepayments) / Current liabilities Gearing ratio = Long-term liabilities / (Share capital + Reserves + Long-term liabilities) Interest cover ratio = Profit before interest and taxation / Interest Expense [Ref: School of Business, MBA 2011, ‘Introductory accounting’, Course Notes from ACCT2060_1160, ‘Lecture 6, Unit 6 – Financial Ratio Analysis’, Page102-107 , RMIT University, Melbourne] |Yr 2009 (Working) |Yr 2009 Ratio |Yr 2010 (Working) |Yr 2010 Ratio | |Current ratio |6 9,544 / 31,903 |2. 2 |82,985 / 34,457 |2. 4 | |Acid Test ratio |(69,544-16,072) / 31,903 |1. 7 |(82,985-22,555) / 34,457 |1. 8 | |Gearing ratio |48,043 / (58,563 + 48,043) |0. 5 |48,102 / (71,790 + 48,102) |0. | |Interest cover ratio |30,335 / 1,372 |22. 1 |36,746 / 2,442 |15. 0 | [Ref: Blackmores AR Report August 2010, Page 53 and 55]. Question 2 (2 marks) You have been provided with the following information about another company, Company X, in the same industry as Blackmores Ltd: |COMPANY X | |Ratio |2010 |2009 | |Current ratio |2. |1. 8 | |Acid test ratio |1. 2 |1. 5 | |Gearing ratio |1. 2 |0. 8 | |Interest cover ratio (times) |10. 9 |13. 1 | Using the information above and the calculations in Part B Question 1, you are required to analyse the liquidity and financial gearing (leverage) of Blackmores Ltd and Company X by providing: ) a description of the movement in each of the ratios for Blackmores Ltd; b) a description of the movement in each of the ratios for Company X; c) an explanation of what each of these ratios tell you about Blackmores Ltd; d) an explanation of what each of these ratios tell you about Company X; Ans: A) The current ratio for Blackmores Ltd indicates that the company is experiencing a slight increase in current asset over current liability. The acid ratio for Blackmores Ltd indicates that the company has slight increase in current asset over the current liability excluding inventories.The gearing ratio for Blackmores Ltd indicates that the company has marginal increase in long term liability over equity. The interest cover ratio for Blackmores Ltd indicates that the company has increase in interest expense. B) The current ratio for Company X indicates that the company is experiencing a slight increase in current asset over current liability. The acid ratio for Company X indicates that the company has slight decline in current asset over the current liability excluding its inventories.The gearing ratio for Company X indicates that th e company has marginal increase in long term liability over equity. The interest cover ratio for Company X indicates that the company has increase in interest expense. C) In Blackmores Ltd current ratio, we see a 20cents increase in liquidity to repay for every 1 dollar of obligation in the next operating cycle. By zooming further into acid ratio test, it becomes clearer that the company has only a 10cents increase in liquidity to repay for every 1 dollar of obligation within 90days as it excludes inventories and prepayment.In gearing ratio, we can conclude that Blackmores Ltd has lowered their long term by 10cents per 1 dollar obligation. As for interest ratio, it reflects that Blackmores Ltd has to pay more interest on outstanding debt. D) In Company X current ratio, we see an increase in 30cents in liquidity to repay for every 1 dollar of obligation in the next operating cycle. Looking further into the acid ratio test, it becomes clearer that the company actually have a 30cents d ecline in liquidity to repay for every 1 dollar of obligation within 90days and we also can assume that the company has a lot of inventories or prepayments.In gearing ratio, we can assume that Company X has increased their long term liabilities in certain aspect. In interest cover ratio of Company X, it also reflects that Company X has to pay more interest on outstanding debt. Question 3 (2 marks) Assume you are considering becoming a creditor for Blackmores Ltd or Company X (from Part B Question 2 above). That is, you will only be providing credit to one of them. Explain which company you would prefer to provide goods to on credit and why you have chosen this company. You may consider both financial and non-financial information in making this decision.Ans: I would provide goods on credit to Blackmores Ltd because Blackmores Ltd has a higher ability to pay off obligations as compare to Company X reference from their current and acid ratio. Also, Blackmores Ltd shows that the compan y is relatively low in term of leverage shown from gearing ratio. Question 4(4 marks) Prepare a table similar to the table below. Complete the table by inserting information from Blackmores’ financial statements (consolidated figures). Calculate each item as a percentage (%) of sales revenue. Financial Item |2010 ($) |% |2009 ($) |% | |Sales |214,934,000 |100. 0 |200,314,000 |100. 0 | |Total expenses |180,347,000 |83. 9 |171,380,000 |85. 6 | |Promotional and other rebates |19,054,000 |8. 9 |18,581,000 |9. | |Raw materials and consumables used |65,748,000 |30. 6 |71,338,000 |35. 6 | |Employee benefits expense |48,179,000 |22. 4 |42,212,000 |21. 1 | |Selling and marketing expenses |19,134,000 |8. 9 |21,078,000 |10. 5 | |Net profit attributable to equity holders of the parent |24,297,000 |11. |20,782,000 |10. 4 | Refer to the table above to explain the performance of Blackmores in 2010 compared to 2009. Ans: Based on the above table, Blackmores Ltd performance in 2010 is has inc rease in sales by 7. 3% compared to 2009. By looking at the table, we can determine that the company has cut down on expenses. Particular area is the buying of raw materials and other consumables and marketing expenses. With these we can assume that marketing is successful. The other reason is because the company’s equity has increased as well.This means more dividends for the shareholder. [Ref: Blackmores AR Report August 2010, Page 53 and 55]. OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION Format and Presentation: The assignment needs to be presented and formatted according to the guidelines shown in this semester’s Course Guide. You need to ensure that the numeric answers you provide are accurate. For example, some figures are shown in thousands while others are not; showing an answer as $102 instead of $102,000 will result in a mark of zero for such a question as there is obviously quite a difference between these two figures.Also ensure that you read each question carefully as some questions will ask for a figure for a particular year and for either the Group (Consolidated) Financial Reports or the Parent Entity (Company). Referencing: As you will be using a company’s Annual Report as the basis for answering many of the questions asked in this assignment, you need to ensure that you acknowledge this in your assignment. In fact, any sources that you use need to be acknowledged in order to avoid plagiarism. Information on referencing can be found in the Guidelines for Referencing and Presentation at the RMIT website using the following address: (http://www. mit. edu. au/bus/students). A copy can also be found on the Blackboard under the Course Documents folder. From the Blackboard site there is also an online referencing resource that you might find useful. It can be found by following these links: External Links / Study and Learning Centre / Study Skills/Referencing/Referencing for Business Students. In-Text Referencing and the Reference List: Sources of information must be cited both in the body of the text (in-text referencing) and the end of the assignment (reference list). Failure to do so will result in penalties.Remember that when referencing an Annual Report it is a corporate document that does not have a particular author but it will still require referencing any time you use information from it. Any other documents or books or other references you use will also require referencing. Penalties Regarding Referencing: No in-text referencing – deduct 1. 5 marks Some in-text referencing only – deduct 1 mark No reference list – deduct 1. 5 marks Incomplete reference list – deduct 1 mark Policy on Late Submissions: The policy on late submissions can be found in the current semester’s course guide. ASSIGNMENT TOTAL – 20 Marks