Kent Cars Ltd Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Kent Cars Ltd - Essay Example At the outset, a shareholder of a private limited company may find himself helpless and locked into the company. Under this scenario, a shareholder who is unable to exert control within the company becomes vulnerable. By taking advantage of his weak position, the controllers of the company at the expense of the non-controlling shareholder, may wield enormous power and authority in administering the company. (Vries 2010:1). The Articles of Association of a private limited company will always consist of some restrictions on transfer of shares. Normally, provisions in the Articles or Table A empower the directors of a company some limited rights to turn down transfer of shares in case of partly paid-up shares. As in the case of fully paid-up shares, such a restriction will be of technical nature only. As the operation and the management of the majority of small companies is wholly reliance on the prolonged good relations between the members of the company to such a magnitude that such c ompanies are frequently no more than partnerships but disguised with a corporate form. Hence, it is significant for the directors or members of such companies to place severe restrictions upon the transfer of shares as it will be tantamount to change in ownership. These restrictions will generally assume the form of the granting of pre-emption rights in favour of the present members of the company which is similar to the statutory pre-emption rights applicable to allotment of shares. The general procedure for transfer of shares in a private limited company is that any member who wants to dispose off his shares should give a notice first to the company. Such Notice will automatically make the company as the member’s agent for the purpose of first offering of shares to the present or existing members of the company in the ratio to their present shareholding. This connotes, by the proposed transfer of shares, the equilibrium or balance between the existing members of the company is protected, presuming that the members in question will have the opportunity to source the needed capital to acquire such shares offered. The following points should be kept in mind in case of transfer of shares of private limited companies; Great care should be given to make sure that the needed procedure is carefully adhered to in case of a transfer and if transfer of shares are expected or if the directors of a company receive notice from a member of his intention to transfer of shares and in such event, immediate reference is to be made to the conditions provided in the â€Å"AOA† † (Articles of Association of the company)†. The most common source of the tussle between the member who wishes to dispose off his share and the other members or directors of the company pertains to valuation of shares. Normally, the Articles of Association will contain a provision that in such scenario, the valuation of shares shall have to be made either by an independent expert or by the statutory auditor of the company where it is provided so and in cases where parties could arrive at a fair price or valuation. If the offered

Healthcare mangement - Delivery and service - team work Essay

Healthcare mangement - Delivery and service - team work - Essay Example A better knowledge and development of skills of every individual is improved by their participation. The welfare of the team and the set goal gains a upper hand than the personal development and motives of an individual within the team (Growing a team, 2011). In a healthcare setting the members of a team work together to provide care for patients. For instance a physician and physiotherapist may work together to provide care for a patient (Clements, Dault & Alicia, n.d). In many cases the team leader can include several members within the team which can result in an unbalance and incase the team includes only people with a particular expertise only a specific area is focused and developed while gaps are left in the other areas. Many individuals within a team may have a feeling that their talents are underutilized within the team. In case the leader is unable to motivate the members, the work output often is not satisfactory and is left incomplete. In case of such differences, all the team members do not get their fill which is also reflected in the final result (Growing a team, 2011). In healthcare team work constitutes an important aspect for providing patient care. The collaborative efforts of both the physician and other paramedics would help to provide optimum care and treatment for the patients as the specific skills of everyone in the team results in improved outcomes for the patient.

British Airways: SWOT and Porters Five Analysis

British Airways: SWOT and Porters Five Analysis Before establishing an analysis of the financial performance of British Airways, and stating the main reasons as to why this organization has been chosen as the proposed case study of this report, the most predominant issue at hand is to define ‘financial and ‘business performance. It performance of a certain organization stands for a measure, which shows how a company can efficiently use its assets from primary mode of business to produce revenues and returns. It can also be considered as a measure of the overall financial performance of the firm over a specific given period or a scale to make comparison of two or more firms in a single industry. Researcher will provide a detailed account of significance of financial performance, but before that, a brief summary of BA as a leading airline company of UK is necessary to explain. British Airways is the flag carrier airline of United Kingdom and it was first established in 1971 in Waterside. The airline was initially formed to control the two nationalized airlines already operating in UK, i.e. BOAC, and BEA, as well as two other regional airlines operating within the country, Cambrian Airways, and Northeast Airlines. All these four airlines were then liquefied to form British Airways which had much larger infrastructure than any individual company and had high prospective earnings. In the recent times, British Airways provide air transport services as well as deliver cargo shipments in to more than 90 countries all around the world. Reason for choosing the organization: There are plenty of reasons as to why this particular organization has been chosen as subject case study. As we know the ongoing economic recession, and this has folded the developed countries into a web of economic decline. The rise of oil prices from $48 to $110 per barrel since the last 6 years is also a reason for the deepest economic downturn for transporting companies. BA faces a challenge of a permanent shift in the business travelling where the larger organization do not prefer their employees to travel for short trips by paying high premium prices. The financial access that was readily available few years ago is now declining and less finance is readily accessible and cash level is decreasing All three challenges force us to make up an analysis that would reveal the financial performance of British Airways over the three years period, i.e. 2007 2009. The review of the financial performance of any particular company that is facing a financial crisis would be the best approach to determine the factors and develop a clear understanding as to why the financial crisis is being faced by that company. A number of factors can be counted towards explaining the problem. Researcher has chosen the financial performance as the main indicator for developing a clear understanding of the financial crisis BA is facing. The financial performance over a specific three years period would also assist the researcher in making up the prediction concerning the future prospects, which would be based on the recognition of significant variables affecting the organization as well as its financial performance. The next two sections would be based on discussion of aims, objectives, and research questions raised by the researcher. Research Aim: The main aim of the research is to make up an analysis of financial performance of British Airways (BA) over a three year period (2007-2009). Apart from the discussion of the financial performance, the report would also be looking at the micro and macro economic factors that lead to the expansion and development of the overall growth of aviation industry in UK. Research Objectives: To analyze the financial performance of British Airways in lieu of the recent financial crisis, and forming an in-depth discussion of how the financial crisis has affected the revenue, cash balances, and stock prices of BA. To evaluate the factor s that lead to the direct effect on growth rate of the airline industry. To ascertain the macroeconomic as well as microeconomic factors those affect the financial performance of BA. To understand the global trends and fashions adopted in the industry as well as viewing the BA as playing a key role in global aviation industry. Observation of the effects of modern technology on the performance of BA on financial and economic grounds. Research Approach: Researcher will make the most of qualitative as well as quantitative methods to ascertain the research objective and aims. The Qualitative method uses a number of approaches and it will be based on different theoretical principles, such as Hermeneutics, Phenomenology, and Social interactions. The quantitative approach would also be taken, based on the principles of positivism, as well as neo-positivism. The approach would be based on the pre-designed standards which are developed before carrying out the actual research (Adams et al. 2007. The significance of qualitative and quantitative methods in a research project as follows: â€Å"If graduate students are to blend qualitative and quantitative research methods in their research study, they can profit at the outset from considering three questions: How are the terms qualitative and quantitative best defined? What are examples of qualitative and quantitative methods? How can the two methods be compatibly combined?† (Murray, 2003) The argumentative reasoning adopted in this report would be based on inductive as well as deductive approach. Saunders et al. (2003) define the inductive approach as the one in which you gather data and form data analysis on the basis of which you develop a theoretical approach. On the other hand, they have defined the deductive approach as the one where a hypothesis is developed first and then a research design is established to explore and test that hypothesis. The very useful approach is to attach both of the approaches to different philosophies; the inductive can be considered more as qualitative approach, where as deductive as more of a quantitative approach (Saunders et al. 2003). Methods of Data collection: There are two types of methods which are given below. Primary Data collection: This data collection is based on interviews, group discussion, Informal Discussion, Debates, Surveys, Community meeting and events (Kumar, 1996). Secondary Data collection: This data collection is based on books, journal, articles, websites, newspapers, magazines, television and company financial reports (kumar, 1996). Data Collection process: Researcher has used mainly secondary source due to availability of reliable and bona fide information. The sources that the researcher has used would basically concern the annual reports from 2007-2009 periods from the website of British Airways. The economic survey of United Kingdom, as well as stock prices would also be used to explore the financial performance of British Airways. Researcher has managed to gather these sources through secondary approach. Therefore the primary sources are not very much often used. The audited financial statements of British Airways are the most relevant source for data collection on the basis of which analysis would be conducted. These financial statements or other relevant data is attached in the Appendix at the end of the research study for the convenience of reader. Researcher has used reference books as well as ACCA text books of paper F7, F9 and P3. Use of secondary sources can be associated with many advantages as well as disadvantages: Advantages Adams et al. (2007) have described the advantages as below: Larger delegate samples are available, which are considered well beyond the research of an individual researcher. Secondary data is an excellent source for inspecting the longitudinal data as well as other trends. Researcher can focus more on the data analysis as well as on its interpretation. Limitation of Data collection: According to Adams et al. (2007) the disadvantages of the secondary sources as below: Data may not be compatible, or the information that has been collected for the data analysis may not be relevant to what is required. The research might be limited in terms of its depth and information gathered might be odd or not up to date and recent concerns might have been over shadowed that can make the research and analysis outdated. The information might not be gathered from whole time period that should be covered and there might be found research gaps. Business and financial performance techniques used: Researcher would exploit the following four business and accounting techniques in this research: Value chain analysis Porters five forces analysis SWOT analysis Financial Ratios As the above mentioned techniques will be elaborated below : Value chain analysis: This technique would be useful in gaining the competitive advantage as well as generation of the shareholder value in the market. The analysis basically divides the business into a series of value-generating activities, known as value chain. The actual purpose of the value chain is to better understand the activities with the help of which the firm develops competitive advantage with the course of time in the market. These activities can best be described by the following picture: (Source: http://www.provenmodels.com/26/value-chain-analysis/michael-e.-porter/) Porters five forces analysis: This technique allows an organization such as BA to seek for outside forces, i.e. companies involved in market competition that tend to affect the competition within the airline industry. Porter five forces model is as follow. Source: Book On Competition By Michael E. Porter Monczka et al. (2009) stated five points as follows: Highest level of competition in the market would lead to creation of more options and chances for buyers as well as suppliers. Risk of entry of new competitors in the market. The threat posed by substitute entrants, i.e. products and services. Extent and power of buyers. Extent and power of suppliers. The key limitation posed in this model is occurred when there is some innovative movement in the market in terms of technological progress which may alter the whole status quo market structure in a very short span of time. SWOT analysis: This technique would analyze the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, as well as threats for BA through inside or outside forces. The main issue at hand then would be to minimize the threats as well as maximize the benefits by British Airways Strengths: Business strengths are, the things which business doing well or, it have which are better than others e.g. Loyal experienced personnel, efficient processes, Advanced IT systems, better customer care, or any other internal factor that leads to success. Strengths of an organization give it a competitive advantage over its competitors Weaknesses: Activities which an organization carries out badly and dont have specialist knowledge to perform in better way are weaknesses of the organization. These weaknesses are internal to organization. Opportunities: These are the factors which the management could take benefit of, e.g. new IT systems, latest technology t, new products etc. Threats: These are issues which can have harmful effect on the performance and activities of business. Threats are generally from outside the organization unlike its strength and weaknesses e.g. substitute products or economic downturn, and these factors are outside of control of organization. International institute of business analysis (2005-2009) A Guide to Business Analysis Ethical issues: As a professional ACCA student it is my responsibility to comply with ACCA five ethical principles i.e. integrity, confidentiality, objectivity, professional competence and due care. It is therefore in my research I have not breached any of these ethical principles. So that research work done is not copied or duplicated and I have complied with oxford Brooks Universitys outline that is the used Harvard referencing system. Business status Of British Airways: British Airways is leading scheduled premium international airlines which flays to over 150 destinations and ha 250 planes in service. British Airways is based in UK and its main revenue earner is UK and in 2008/ 09 48% was generated from UK .22% was from continental Europe and from USA it was 17% and rest was from rest of the world. Since 2008, British Airways have taken many new initiatives to reduce their additional costs that can enhance their profits. They also have increased the number of flights including Africa as well as Central Asia. These flights will definitely help them in finding new routes and clients as well as cutting down their overall costs. The new routes or flight might however not be very much profitable for them as the flights to central Asia and Africa are not organized very often and are not considered quite profitable routes. Another notable point is concerned with the bad performance of British Airways which was due to sudden rise in the prices of oil during the period 2007-2009. According to British Airways chief financial officers report, the profits reached record levels in 2007-08 as they achieved the target of 10% operating margin for the first time. But for the year 2009 even though revenues were increased but operating costs were significantly increased which turn the profit in to loss. Economic recession has hardly hit British Airways and exchange rates have also adversely affected on British Airways. Pound starling has lost its value to euro and dollar. The increased fuel prices in years 2007-2009 have directly affected the revenue as well as profits of the industry, whereas it is evident from the graph below that the reduced prices in oil have again raised the profits of the firm to greater amount. The major loss incurred in 2007 by BA was due to the volatility in oil prices and devaluation of pound sterling against dollar and euro. The reduction in the number of passengers lesser than the average annual rate was also low, which can be due to social and economic constraints on the individual level. Even though there was plenty of reason for economy shrinkage but British Airways sales were increased. The graph given below would explain the trends concerning revenues and profits of BA for the period of 2007-2009: British Airways revenues increased from 8492  £million in 2007 to 8992  £million in 2009 and as in the graph above it can be seen that operating revenues are increasing through the period by 3% which is a healthy sign for the company. Even though BA‘s revenues are increased but profits have fallen sharply and converted in a loss after tax profits have become losses and 401  £million loss which was recorded in year 2009 is very significant. It is specifically down to fuel and oil cost which has increased sharply by 900 £million and some restructuring is been done in its employees contracts which will give benefits in future. Share price of British Airways was at its peak in 2006/07 but after that there is rapid decent as shown in graph below: http://www.financial-spread-betting.com/shares/Spreadbetting-British-Airways.html Share price was at 6.60  £ in 2007and it start dramatically falling and in year 2009 it was as low as to 1.34  £.but after that there is a recovery and share price is increasing gradually. The reduction of the carbon footprint was the one step that was taken in early 2008 and has been quite successful in attracting more customers than ever before. The 2009 annual report also stated some of the new IT systems being introduced as well as implemented, given as follows: Cargo tracking Reservation system ULD management system AIRCOM; a technology that provides the location and movement of the aircraft in real time Movement manager and dispatch manager in flight operations of British Airways The performance of British Airways is very much closely related to the economic conditions. Therefore, it would be very important to consider the state of economy. It should first be noted that the economic crisis has badly affected the economy of US and UK, and after the recession economic growth is far less than inflation. The individual economic condition would suffer so it would also be affecting the whole states economy, and based on that the customer base of the airline industry would also be affected as most of the customers would prefer to travel through train for domestic travel. On the other hand, the consistent downfall in the purchasing power of the consumer as devaluation of pound would also affect the per capita income which would directly impact the consumer base of British Airways. The economic survey held in UK in 2009-10 stated that year 2007 was the worst year for airline industry. The overall decline of 2.4% in the passenger demand was recorded in the year 2007 alone. However, the losses incurred in 2007, as some economic analysts say, had been met in the 2008 year as the profits were higher and losses lesser, which became worst again in 2009. Although there was some relief in fuel bills but economic recession continued to cause a decline in passenger and freight demand. Long term investment in the period 2007 to 2009 specially restructuring of employees and there contracts BA will gain advantage from it in future. Even though BAs financial performance is not great but operationally however, BA is achieving levels of excellence which were never seen in the history of the airline and have won awards for that. Analysis of British Airways using business and financial techniques By using different business and financial models heres a brief explanation of value chain and analysis of British Airways value chain. Analysis of British Airways through Value chain analysis: The similar approach as mentioned above in the value chain analysis section would be adopted here, as to develop an understanding of several activities in BA and concerning how it is important in offering the competitive advantage to the firm in discussion. The British Airways have managed to control the system through forward and backward integration. The primary activities for BA to take great care would be considered as follows: Inbound logistics: BA has managed to control the stock. It has also managed to make ongoing relationships with the suppliers. Operations: The BA management has enabled to make increased bagged security. The management has also taken steps to improve the quick check in services as well as secure online bookings. It has also enabled itself to pre-book additional services. Outbound logistics: BA has managed to improve the customer services. It has larger database of airport slots which provide majority of the passengers a facility to access their destinations from preferred airport. Marketing Sales: The BA has also developed the marketing relations with all the well known and large stake holders. British Airways support Activities The structured chain of command permits the BA to utilize the multitude of specialist for gaining the competitive advantage of the downsized organizations. The human resource management is the integral part of this analysis. The investment made in the development of the customers through service training in 2007 which attracted the best employees. The surveys and questionnaires appreciate the employees and other support staff to provide the feedback. The technological development is also an integral part for BA to look for keeping the services up to date. BA has managed to add value to the smaller companies due to the floppy resources that can be used to recreate the resources, The size of this business as well as coalitions and alliances BA has succeeded to make since the long time in history has led to make BA able to leverage the suppliers as well as through the economies of scale for developing efficiency where the other competitors have most of the times failed. Application of Porters five forces to evaluates British Airways performance: The porters five forces analysis would discuss the negotiating power of the suppliers, and consumers; threat posed by the substitute products, and new services or products into the market, as well as the competition in the market. Existing competitors/rivalry. UK airline industry can be divided in two major sectors budget airlines and schedule airlines. Where schedule airlines operate worldwide as well as in Europe. While budget airlines mainly focus on the short distance destination. British Airway has to compete at the same time in both sectors. Market share in relation to their competitors is not very significant. It is important to discuss existing competition in the industry because this situation may offer opportunity or threat and company might have to take some actions e.g. innovation, deliver excellent customer services, research and development. Market share of British Airways in UK can be divided into two categories in respect of long haul and short haul destination. As given below graphs illustrate the long and short haul destinations from the year ended 2004 to 2008. Data Source: www.mintel.com (2009) As the above mentioned graph demonstrate that British Airways market share is declining. Graph shows market leader Delta airline share is reducing significantly since last three years. But there are some airlines industry like Emirates and Singapore airlines capturing more market share. And also low cost carriers like easy Jet has also start flaying to long haul destinations and has shown increase in there market share over the last five year period even though comparatively it is not that much worry as it is in short haul destination market share. Source: mintel (2009) The above given graph explains that market share of British Airways increased by 15.6%. But as compare to its competitors easy Jet ,whos market share increased by 106%,BA increase is not significant not significant and Rayanair is market leader and capturing more and more market share every year and over the last 5 year they have recorded 117% increase in there market share. Threat of new entrant. According to Mockler (1994), threat of new entrant indicates the new firm entry in an industry with innovation, new ideas and creativity such elements enable new firms to capture market share. In the case of airline industry the entry barriers are significantly high because it is much more regulatory industry. But still in the past there are many new entries in the industries e.g. easy jet which are performing outstandingly as compare to British Airways. Any new entry in that industry could lead British Airways to decrease in profits and revenues as well as loss of market share. Power of the customers According to Mockler et el (1994), determining bargaining power of customers is important for strategy and overall business objectives. The strength of negotiation power of customers of British Airways is nether very high nor very low . Customer have different kind of choices like low cost airlines e.g. Rynairs airlines, easy Jet etc and schedule airline virgin airlines, BMI airlines etc. Therefore customers have wide range options to choose from and there is no switching cost to customer. Therefore it is important for British Airways keep customer loyalty. Fare levels are very crucial to attract all class of customer and provide them with things which they value. Power of suppliers. The negotiating power of the supplier is always very high as there is always limited number of suppliers in the market e.g. Boeing and air bus. As both of these are major supplier of airplanes in the industry and providing more planes to more than 650 airlines. Other major suppliers for airline industry are the oil companies, who are providing oil and energy to many industries and the airline industry is not the major consumer of their products. BA has restriction to choose the oil provider, one who has contracted to supply oil to that airport. BA employees are well unionized and force their power collectively which we have seen in resent strikes. Threat of substitute. Geographically UK is an island and main methods of transportations in past to Europe and rest of the world through the sea or by air. But recently introduction of channel tunnel from UK to France has given another alternate route for travelers to Europe. And introduction of euro star means much faster route to travel to continental Europe compare to airline industry long waiting before boarding and after arrivals. And this has forced some threat to air line industry in UK. But it is not that much significant for BA because it fly all over the world not just to continental Europe. Application of SWOT Analysis on British Airways: The SWOT analysis would provide a detailed analysis for British Airways concerning its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, as well as threats. Strengths BA has a very strong power even in an oligarchic system which gives this firm capability to even set the prices not by coming on the pressure of the other competitors by using its differentiation strategy. Major strength of British Airways is that it controls the landing and take of slots at Heathrow air port which is one of the largest airports in the world. BA, as compared to its competitors, is considered as well in a sense it is more equipped with technology and always uses up to date technology, e.g. it relatively has new planes than other firms. It has relatively larger market to target including domestic as well as international customers. Weaknesses Main weakness of British Airways is its suffering financial performance. The high amount of debt that BA had incurred in 2007 was a result of their bad organization of operational activities .British Airways employees are highly unionized which means strikes are still on the cards and BA has a great deal of influence from the UK government in terms of devising several rules. This type of outside mediation can greatly reduce the organizational efficiency. In the organization internally or externally there are lot of issues of trust which are effecting its performance. Opportunities British Airways have lot of opportunities to exploit in future .Mega sporting events of next decade are to be held in UK including Olympics, cricket, football and rugby events through out .which means BA has opportunities to take advantages .it needs to make strategies to exploit the International market. British Airways also can start flying more flights to other growing economies e.g. China ,India because London is the financial hub .United kingdom is metropolitan so BA can exploit this opportunity and start flying to other countries from where people are coming more often. Threats. Major threat which is faced to British Airways is from the cost competition. As number of low cost carriers are performing well in last five years it can be speculate that in economic down turn these low cost carriers will perform better. Threats to BA also include the fact that extremism and terrorism has made the whole world its prey and any kind of activity can be expected from such fanatics as well. Additionally, the high interest rates, as well as the depreciating currency have also affected the overall performance and profits. Recently bank of England has announced the inflation rate will be far more than growth so this can lead in to down fall in sales. Financial ratios: This section will discuss the financial ratios which would analyze the behavior of the firm in terms of the financial performance of BA. The financial ratios are being calculated for the period of 2007-2009 and after the calculation of the ratios of all the three different periods separately, the results will be drawn which will compare the financial performance of BA over the three years concerning different periods of times. This section would also develop the detailed account of the use of financial ratios which would also be discusses in terms of what these ratios are determined for and what is the reason and intuition behind each of them regarding the financial ratios calculated. These ratios are used as a standard in building the comparison of BAs performance over a period where different years performance would be compared actually. These can also be compared with the other companies which are in competition with BA, either domestically, or internationally. Calculation of the financial ratios is very important and if the companies do not do this exercise, then they would not be able to track their performance efficiently. The companies will keep themselves in dark if they do not keep the record of the financial ratios and they would also not be able to keep informed themselves concerning what and how their growth can be made. Interpretation of these ratios can sometimes put up ambiguous results, so the companies do need to the exact calculations and to put those numbers exactly. Now the research would turn to determine the important financial ratios for developing the understanding of the financial performance of the British Airways over a three year period of 2007-2009. Liquidity ratios: The liquidity ratio is calculated to measure the ability of a certain firm to pay off the bills. Some of the key financial liquidity ratios would be mentioned as follows: Working capital: Working capital is like blood in company, which is necessary to make company operate. Working capital is the measure of the difference of current assets and the current liabilities of the company. Working capital is actually operating liquidity which is there for business to operate and is necessary for day to day operations and it quantify business short term financial health. The equation for the ratio goes as follows: Working Capital = Current assets Current liabilities The net working capital of British Airways and Easy jet for the period of 2007-2009 is as follows: Graph As it could be seen from graph that working capital position of British Airways is not very satisfactory, and the negative figure indicate that working capital management is poor so current assets are less than its current liabilities British Airways can be in danger to fade short term financing problems .which can give a little indication of overtrading in some cases .it is clear from the graph that over the three year period its net working capital is gone bad to verse, and from 194  £million deficit its now 1820  £million deficit. While on the other hand its competitor Easy jets working capital level is relatively stable over the three year period. Decrease in British Airways working capital was 1439  £million from year 2008 to 2009 which was 377% decrease and it is alarming for its liquidity. Current ratio: Current ratios indicate business capability to pay its short term debts. Higher current ratio suggests business has more power to pay its obligations. Current ratios formula takes the assumption that the inventory which is in fact part of the curr

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Located in central Java in present day Indonesia, The Great Stupa of Borobudur is the world’s largest Buddhist monument. It was constructed sometime around AD 800 as a way of displaying visual teachings of Mahayana Buddhism. The Great Stupa of Borobudur is essentially a symbolic form of both a stupa, a sacred mound of earth with holy relics of the Buddha buried beneath, and a mandala, a mystic Buddhist symbol of the universe. Or as Catherine Albanese describes it â€Å"†¦the mandala meant a circle which signifies the wholeness of the self.† The architectural design of this stupa was different from anything that had come before it and every part of it had some significance in the world of Buddhism. The overall structure of Borobudur is made up of a square foundation along with a total of nine platforms. Of those nine platforms six of them are squared while the remaining three are circular. The structure can be further divided into three main levels: a base, a body, and the top. Each of these levels symbolize the three realms of Buddhist cosmology. The base symbolizes the realm of Kamadhatu; the six squared platforms symbolize the realm of Rupadhatu; and the three circular platforms at the top symbolize the realm of Arupadhatu. The realm of Kamadhatu is also known as the world of desires and it is the lowest level of the three realms. This is where ordinary sentient individuals live out their lives with desires and suffering. The next realm, the realm of Rupadhatu is known as the world of forms and it is the second level of the three realms. This realm is accessed by those who have gotten rid of their desires through meditation, but still have a name and form. It is said that you have to advance up through multiple stages in thi... ...design of Borobudur and the ritual that it entails. The reliefs located on the base and body were there in order to teach initiates the sacred texts as the ascended the mountain in Pradakshina. The elliptical and circular terraces represented the summit of Mt Meru and the central stupa located in the center represented the center of the universe. Through this ritual the state of Nirvana is attained through gradual processes and transitions, not drastic jumps. The architecture of Borobudur would also signify a gradual process as it starts off square in the lower terraces, transitions to elliptical with the first two upper terraces and finally becomes circular in the third upper terrace. People may only speculate as to what things may mean or represent, but one thing for certain is that The Great Stupa of Borobudur was designed and built the way it was for a reason.

Examining Mary Cassatt And Her Paintings Art Essay

Cassatt is possibly best-known for her pictures of female parents and kids, plants which besides reflect a surprisingly modern esthesia. Traditional premises refering childhood, child-rearing, and the topographic point of kids in society were confronting challenges during the last portion of the nineteenth century and adult females excessively were reconsidering and redefining their topographic point in modern civilization. Cassatt was sensitive to a more progressive attitude toward adult females and kids and displayed it in her art every bit good as in her private remarks. She recognized the moral strength that adult females and kids derived from their indispensable and elemental bond, a integrity Cassatt would ne'er pall of stand foring. The many pictures, pastels, and prints in which Cassatt depicted kids being bathed, dressed, read to, held, or suckled reflect the most advanced 19th-century thoughts about raising kids. After 1870, Gallic scientists and doctors encouraged female parents ( alternatively of wet nurses and nursemaids ) to care for their kids and suggested modern attacks to wellness and personal hygiene, including regular bathing. In the face of several cholera epidemics in the mid-1880s, bathing was encouraged non merely as a redress for organic structure olfactory properties but as a preventive step against disease. Shortly after her victory with the Impressionists, Cassatt ‘s manner evolved, and she moved off from Impressionism to a simpler, more straightforward attack. By 1886, she no longer identified herself with any art motion and experimented with a assortment of techniques. A series of strictly drawn, tenderly observed, yet mostly tough-minded pictures on the female parent and child subject organize the footing of her popular work. In 1891, she exhibited a series of extremely original colored lithograph prints, including Woman Bathing and The Coiffure, inspired by the Nipponese Masterss shown in Paris the twelvemonth earlier. Her determination to go a professional creative person must hold seemed beyond the picket, given that serious picture was mostly the sphere of work forces in the nineteenth century. Despite the concerns of her parents, Cassatt chose calling over matrimonyJanson ‘s History of Art, Seventh Editionp. 879-880 This text gives us a small penetration into the life of Mary Cassatt ( 1844-1926 ) . She was an American who was born into a affluent household and raised in Pittsburgh ; besides influenced by Renaissance art, she approached Impressionism from a adult female ‘s position, chiefly as a figure painter. As a female, she was frequently restricted every bit far as traveling topographic points unattended where work forces could travel. Her capable affair was attributed to these limitations. Many of her subjects included adult females reading, sing, taking tea, and bathing an baby. The Child ‘s Bath is non merely a image about wellness, but about intense emotional and physical engagement. Paul instance: Cather ‘s apprehension of the silent bounds regulating the representation of gender, and the manner they were linked to genre, explains why she chose the manner of indirection in composing her 1905 narrative of a homosexual adolescent, â€Å" Paul ‘s Case. † Recent developments in sexology enabled Cather to qualify Paul as a homosexual without calling his status. Through background information and physical description, Cather ‘s storyteller discreetly invokes degeneration theory to explicate her supporter, alining him with the topics of recent instance surveies. After experimenting with the character of the â€Å" faery, † Paul uses stolen money to transform himself into a civilized, sophisticated â€Å" fagot, † but neither persona proves for good satisfactory. Through its mentions to Paul ‘s gender, the narrative analyzes one peculiar merchandise of late-nineteenth-century consumer capitalist economy: the middle-class, urban homosexual a dult male. How to compose it? Write your flood tide foremost ; it will help you to estimate decently the view-point of your narrative. The flood tide is the secret plan in brief: here is a intimation as to plot determination. Take a state of affairs: it may be humourous, hapless, full of enigma, or dramatic ; but it must be striking. Life abounds in many such, and he who goes about with his eyes open can non neglect to put aside an ample shop. The decision should follow closely on the heels of the flood tide. Its office is to pealing down efficaciously the drape on the scene. Often it dovetails in the flood tide so that we can non state where one begins and the other terminals When you conceived your flood tide, doubtless some one thing stood out in bolder alleviation than all the remainder. It may hold been wit, it may hold been pathos, it may hold been inexorable calamity. Whatever it was, it is the point of the narrative, the Centre of gravitation of your narrative. You sagely gave it a puting in maintaining, and in the decision let it brood like a lingering note to be a persistent memory for many a twenty-four hours. It is the kernel of your construct, and in the debut you held it up before your reader ‘s eyes as the game to be pursued. This we will name the subject of the composing. The elusive power of the Gallic school lies in the art of insinuation. It is what is left unexpressed instead than what is said that causes the greatest bang. But the illation must be field: the reader ‘s imaginativeness should non be left to build the narrative which you set out to state. Often a narrative will be saved from ennui to captivation by the power of suggestion entirely. This is peculiarly true of love scenes, deceases, and the similar, such as merely a maestro ‘s manus at description can trust to manage efficaciously. Rosebud: One of the cardinal Southern Crosss of the movie is the inquiry of what precisely Rosebud means. We ask this inquiry even though we know that Welles & A ; Co. were in portion seeking to demo that you can non cut down a adult male ‘s enigmas to one thing. On the other manus, there is a solution to the â€Å" job. † It is really found in Welles ‘s following movie, The Magnificent Ambersons. Throughout Welles ‘s wireless calling, his most moving shows, such as his version of â€Å" The Apple Tree, † were about loss aa‚ ¬ † loss of a arcadian yesteryear, of a domestic felicity, of a quiet life. This subject does n't look to hold anything to make with Welles ‘s existent life. It ‘s merely something he liked, though possibly based on the loss of his female parent at an early age. The Brilliant Ambersons is his most affecting realisation of this subject in his work. Rosebud leads up to that movie. Rosebud is The Brilliant Ambersons. The small-town values and female parent ‘s love that the snow-ball evoke aa‚ ¬ † which reminds Kane of his childhood place, and the sled called Rosebud aa‚ ¬ † are all explored in much more item and presented with an extra dollop of hurting loss, in Welles ‘s 2nd movie. Rosebud is non a catch. As a narrative device, it is the holy grail of the movie, the engine that drives the newsman Thompson to work out the enigma of Kane, and along the manner we learn every bit much about Kane as the characters ( and the undermining overvoice of the movie itself ) can state us. But when we learn, from our privileged place as viewing audiences of the movie, what Rosebud really is, even as it is being destroyed, we besides learn that it is non a fraud, nor is it bathetic. As Bernard Herrmann ‘s beautiful music rises in the background, we feel both the unsealing of the envelope and the shutting of a life. It ‘s a beautiful minute, one of the most expressive in all film. And you know what? In a manner, a adult male ‘s life can be reduced to one thing, if that thing is the rich bunch of images and thoughts that Rosebud contains.The homosexual subtext in Citizen KaneWho wrote Kane? The reply is in the facet of the movie that everyone is afraid to adve rt, the homosexual subtext that appears in Kane and in many of Welles ‘s other movies. I ‘m non speaking about his private life, in which, harmonizing to Simon Callow, Welles had a bent for pulling the support of older homosexual work forces such as Houseman, who were smitten with the young person ‘s vivacity. Welles, a heavy drinker, was married three times and, like Marlon Brando and Warren Beatty after him, had pretentious personal businesss with many adult females, among them Dolores Del Rio. None of this seemed to happen its manner into his movies. Womans do n't calculate that to a great extent in most of Welles ‘s movies, and seldom does sex genuinely enter. Love and passion are at that place, but frequently presented discreetly. Kane offers up something of a Madonna/whore contrast, while his following movie shows dedicated adult female in a soap-operaish margarine of unanswered, frequently even unsaid, love. Although the aborted It ‘s All True celebrated the passionate life of Latin America, Welles was truly interested in the political relations of the clip. Subsequent movies dealt with â€Å" great work forces † and their political lives. Welles played Othello as if he were truly married to Iago. There is the suggested colza of a newlywed in Touch of Evil, and a nymphomaniac in The Trial. It ‘s a daze to see footage from the unfinished The Other Side of the Wind in which existent lecherousness is realized in the back place of a auto. But the combination of sex and adult females is non what we carry o ff from many of these movies. Male friendly relationship and its treacheries interested Welles, from one movie to another, get downing with Kane and enduring all the manner to The Big Brass Ring, a screenplay credited to Welles but eventually filmed by person else. As in many movies with a homosexual subtext, parts of Kane do n't do sense unless you view them from a cheery position. Why, precisely does Jed Leland feel so betrayed by Kane? It ca n't merely be because Kane ‘s political foolishness â€Å" put back the cause of reform 20 old ages. † When Leland, the flunky friend, first learns of the political shame, he walks into a saloon to submerge feelings of†¦ what? Leland, who elsewhere says he took concert dance lessons with Kane ‘s first married woman and was â€Å" really graceful, † has no female comrades in the movie, and his reaction to Kane ‘s political â€Å" treachery † far exceeds its existent weight. There ‘s a love here that daring non talk its name. This cheery subtext provides another indicant of Welles ‘s manus in the Kane screenplay. Welles ‘s other great film, Touch of Evil, has a similar relationship between a powerful adult male and a flunky, in which the powerful adult male is the love of the flunky ‘s life: Welles ‘s Quinlan and Joseph Calleia ‘s Pete Menzies ; merely here, both work forces betray each other. And the entirety of The Trial merely makes sense if the movie is viewed as truly about the persecution of a homosexual adult male in a consecutive society. The cheery subtext of Kane merely adds to its enigmas and makes it a richer movie. Understanding subjects: D1 Personal individuality is shaped by oneaa‚ ¬a„?s civilization, by groups, and by institutional influences. Examination of assorted signifiers of human behaviour enhances apprehension of the relationship between societal norms and emerging personal individualities, the relationships between societal procedures that influence individuality formation, and the ethical rules underlying single action.

What Is True Love

Charles Argument Essay Many people have wondered can true love last forever. I agree and disagree that true love can last forever because true love is how you feel and feelings can always change. True love is described in three words – infatuation, lust, and friendship/companionship. True love can be disproved by infatuation. Infatuation is temporary euphoric state of that is the research on blood chemistry when someone says they’ve â€Å"fallen in love† as stated by Bill Ferguson in his research â€Å"Studying the Science of Falling in Love. He says that love is a temporary state that people go through but it can at any point. Infatuation proves that true love can’t last forever because it’s a temporary state that express how a person feel for example when a person sayâ€Å"I’ve fallen in love† which can change at any point in a relationship. However, true love can last forever is expressed by friendship, or companionship. Friendship , or companionship if you will, is the one element of a love relationship that can, potentially, go on indefinitely as stated by Ferguson in â€Å"Studying the Science of Falling in Love. What Ferguson may have meant was that a truly in love couple is like a relationship that they enjoy being in company with so it has the potential to last forever. Friendship and companionship proves that true love can last forever because it is possible/capable to last forever Cofer’s essay â€Å"I feel in love, or my hormones awakened† supports Ferguson’s claim of infatuation and lust. For example, in her essay she says â€Å"Week after week I wandered up and down the aisles taking furtive glances at the stock room in the back, breathlessly hoping to see my prince. What this mean is that she was in love with a rich senior that every week she just hoped to see him in the stock room. Cofer’s essay proves that true love can’t last forever because she admired him a nd it can last forever because she wants to be with him but she holds it as a secret love.Cofer’s essay â€Å"I feel in love, or my hormones awakened† and Ferguson’s research â€Å"Studying the Science of Falling in Love† both states that true love can and can’t last orever by relating it to three words – infatuation, lust, and friendship. Both Cofer and Ferguson described that true love can last forever with lust and it can’t last forever with infatuation. Ferguson described that true love can last forever with friendship/companionship. These three words helped both Cofer and Ferguson decide if true love can last forever or not. Both stated that true love can and can’t last forever.

Map of Natural Radioactivity

Map of Natural Radioactivity Many people do not realize that radioactivity occurs naturally on Earth. In fact, it is actually quite common and can be found virtually all around us in the rocks, soil and air. Natural radioactivity maps may look quite similar to normal geologic maps. Different types of rocks have specific levels of uranium and radon, so scientists often have a good idea of the levels based on geologic maps  alone.   In general, a higher altitude means a higher level of natural radiation from cosmic rays. Cosmic radiation occurs from the suns solar flares, as well as subatomic particles from outer space. These particles react with elements in the Earths atmosphere as they come into contact with it. When you fly in an airplane, you actually experience significantly higher levels of cosmic radiation than from being on the ground.   People experience different levels of natural radioactivity based on their geographic locale. The geography and topography of the United States is very diverse, and as you may expect, levels of natural radioactivity differ from region to region. While this terrestrial radiation should not concern you too much, it is good to be aware of its concentration in your area.   The featured map was derived from radioactivity measurements using sensitive instruments. The following explanatory text from the US Geological Survey  highlights a few of the areas on this map that show especially high or low levels of uranium concentration. Radioactive Areas of Note Great Salt Lake: Water absorbs gamma rays so it shows as no data area on the map.Nebraska Sand Hills: Wind has separated the lighter quartz from the clay and heavier minerals that usually contain uranium.The Black Hills: A core of granites and metamorphic rocks high in radioactivity is surrounded by less radioactive sedimentary rocks and gives a distinctive pattern.Pleistocene glacial deposits: The area has low surface radioactivity, but uranium occurs just below the surface. Thus it has a high radon potential.Deposits of glacial Lake Agassiz: Clay and silt from a prehistoric glacial lake have higher radioactivity than glacial drift surrounding it.Ohio Shale: Uranium-bearing black shale with a narrow outcrop zone was scooped up and spread over a large area in west-central Ohio by glaciers.Reading Prong: Uranium-rich metamorphic rocks and numerous fault zones produce high radon in indoor air and in ground water.Appalachian Mountains: Granites contain elevated uranium, particularly in fault zones. Black shales and soils above limestone also contain moderate to high levels of uranium. Chattanooga and New Albany Shales: Uranium-bearing black shales in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana have a distinctive outcrop pattern clearly defined by radioactivity.Outer Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain: This area of unconsolidated sands, silts, and clays has one of the lowest radon potentials in the United States.Phosphatic rocks, Florida: These rocks are high in phosphate and associated uranium.Inner Gulf Coastal Plain: This area of the Inner Coastal Plain has sands containing glauconite, a mineral high in uranium.Rocky Mountains: Granites and metamorphic rocks in these ranges contain more uranium than sedimentary rocks to the east, resulting in high radon in indoor air and in ground water.Basin and Range: Granitic and volcanic rocks in the ranges, alternating with basins filled with alluvium shed from the ranges, give this area a generally high radioactivity.Sierra Nevada: Granites containing high uranium, particularly in east-central California, show as red areas.Northwest Pacific Coastal Mountains and Columbia Plateau: This area of volcanic basalts is low in uranium. Edited by Brooks Mitchell

Savage Wars Of Peace review essays

Savage Wars Of Peace review essays Max Boots book, The Savage Wars of Peace, is researched and written very well. He brings a new light and importance to the small wars or low intensity conflicts that in time, helped America become a world power. He began writing the book because he wanted to provide a concise history of Americas small wars abroad that...relate[s] the past to problems confronting the United States today. In the end he realized that not only did he write a book about small wars that could relate to present problems, but also a book that shows how the United States has always found itself being drawn into the savage wars of peace. The main theme of this book is that in America's history, war in some variety is the rule and not the exception. Dissimilar to the accepted myth, the United States military has fought several small wars to support the country's interests overseas, often times without a preceding announcement of war. Boot skillfully explains how the country started out as a commercial po wer before becoming a great power in the 1890s and then, finally, a superpower in 1941. Boots book is an informational read providing useful information on small wars, while including a great base for the science, as well as the art, of waging small wars. Along with all the different areas he touches in his book, most importantly Boot's novel contains some very important lessons that may prove to be very useful to the duty-bound Coalition completing its task in Iraq. The book provides information and facts that is not always well known. He mentions many actions, conflicts, and moments in history that are not always mentioned in many of the text books read today. Boots writing is not dry, or uninteresting. On the contrary, he is able to hold interest with his creative titles, and subtitles, such as Pirates of the Caribbean, of different sections within the book, al...

Articulated Prepositions in Italian

Articulated Prepositions in Italian You’ve learned about prepositions like â€Å"a†, â€Å"di†, and â€Å"da†, but you’ve also been seeing ones that look like â€Å"al†, â€Å"del†, and â€Å"dal†. Are these the same prepositions, and if so, how do you know when to use them? These prepositions are called articulated prepositions, and they are formed when the simple preposition (like â€Å"su†) combines with a definite article (like â€Å"lo†), and form one word that looks like, â€Å"sullo†. Why Do Articulated Prepositions Exist? Despite the difficulty they add to all of the Italian grammar you have to learn, articulated prepositions are probably one of the reasons you like listening to Italian. They add a melodic flow to the language that makes Italian easier on the ears. What Do Articulated Prepositions Look Like? Below you’ll find a table with all of the articulated prepositions.   For example: Ho comprato delle uova. - I bought some eggs. Delle - di le Note: Pay particular attention to what happens when you combine the preposition â€Å"in† with a definite article as the form changes more dramatically than the others. Articulated Prepositions in Italian Definite Article A DI DA IN SU CON il al del dal nel sul col/con il lo allo dello dallo nello sullo con lo l all dell dall nell sull con l i ai dei dai nei sui coi/con i gli agli degli dagli negli sugli con gli la alla della dalla nella sulla con la l all dell dall nell sull con l le alle delle dalle nelle sulle con le Esempi: Vai al cinema? - You’re going to the movies?Vorrei tanto andare negli Stati Uniti! - I would really like to go to the United States!Ci sono tanti ristoranti sulla spiaggia. - There are a lot of restaurants on the beach.Uno dei miei amici mi ha consigliato di andare a Verona. Che ne pensi? - One of my friends advised that I go to Verona. What do you think?Mi piace leggere alla sera. - I like to read in the evening. Also, note that you only need to know how to change five of the seven prepositions into their articulated forms, with con typically only combining with il and i.   You never need to change â€Å"tra†, â€Å"fra† or â€Å"per†. When Do You Use Articulated Prepositions? When you do or do not use this form of prepositions can get tricky very quickly as there are often more exceptions than rules. However, there is one rule that tends to stay consistent. Typically, you would use articulated prepositions when the noun following whatever preposition you’re using requires an article, like â€Å"Che ore sono? - What time is it? → Sono le dieci. - It’s ten†. When you’re talking about time, the article is most likely needed. With that in mind, you would know to use an articulated preposition in this phrase: We’ll see each other at ten. → Ci vediamo alle dieci. Some expressions in Italian are also fixed and must include the articulated preposition, and you’ll often see this happen with locations. For example, â€Å"I’m going to to the dentist† would be, â€Å"Vado dal dentista†. It’s easier, however, to talk about when you should avoid using articulated prepositions. Here are the most common situations. DON’T use articulated prepositions before: A name, like â€Å"Luca†Names of cities, like â€Å"Boston†Fixed phrases, like â€Å"vacanza da sogno - dream vacation†

Negotiation Skills for Managers Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Negotiation Skills for Managers - Research Paper Example 2006, p.3). For example, a sales manager and his clients may have contrasting interests. Clients always like to get the job done as cheaply as possible whereas the manager would like to get that job for a price as higher as possible. A compromise is necessary between the manager and his client in order to protect mutual interests as much as possible and for that purpose negotiation is a must. Since sales is a profession in which negotiation takes place quiet frequently, I decided to interview a car salesman of a Toyota dealership in order to get more awareness about various aspects of business negotiations. This paper is written based on the interview I conducted with that Toyota car salesman. My own perspectives of negotiation In my opinion, various types of negotiations occur every day in our life. However, in business world, negotiation occurs between an organization and its clients, organization and its employees, organization and its suppliers, organization and communities in wh ich it operates. However, negotiations between the sellers and buyers are more common in the business world. The seller wants to sell his product for maximum prices whereas the buyer would like to purchase things for minimum prices. Since these two motives are traveling in opposite directions, negotiation is the only way to settle the issues between the sellers and buyers. In short, better deal is the major motive behind every business negotiation. It is not necessary that all negotiation process may end up in victories or failures. In certain cases, both the parties may sacrifice many of their interests to get the work done. Characteristics of business negotiations As per the opinions of the car salesman I interviewed, negotiations can be classified into two different groups; 1) Negotiations that end up in the victory of one party and the failure of the other party 2) Negotiations that end up in victory to both the parties. He has labeled these negotiations as distributive (win-los e) and integrative (win-win). He has pointed out that a win-win or integrative negotiation is always desirable as both the parties may get some benefits out of the negotiation process. Distributive or win-lose negotiations may end up in the victory of only one party at the expense of the other. I asked him about the type of negotiation usually he undertakes and the reasons for that. He has told me that majority of the times he will go for integrative negotiations and only at the unavoidable circumstances; he will go for the distributive type of bargaining. In his opinion, business concepts are changing rapidly. Business management principles in the past and at present are entirely different. Earlier, sales people concentrated more on selling the goods at any cost. They used all positive and negative tactics to sell the product in the past. In other words, the intentions of a salesman in the past were to conduct only distributive negotiations in which the ultimate winner would be the salesman. As a result of such distributive negotiations, many companies lost their customer base as cheated customers or the losing customers started to look for other options. He has mentioned that as per the modern business principles, retaining of the customers is as important as attracting a new customer and therefore

Who should receive experimental treatment (of Ebola) Essay

Who should receive experimental treatment (of Ebola) - Essay Example One such mechanism is the emergency Investigational New Drug (IND) initiative (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014). The Ebola virus has been principally restricted to underdeveloped nations of the world. Consequently, no vaccine or drug to address it has been produced, despite its presence for nearly four decades. The current outbreak of this disease has been of such gravity that the developed nations have been seriously striving to produce vaccines and drugs to deal with it. The rapidity with which this dread infection is spreading has necessitated an approach that ignores the existing rules governing the delivery of new drugs. The WHO clearly stated that when certain conditions were satisfied, it would not be unethical to provide vaccines and drugs, in the experimental stage to prevent infection (The Economist, 2014, p. 85). The experimental serum ZMapp, developed by the US, was injected to two missionaries of the US, after they had been infected with the Ebola virus in Liberia. These missionaries were subsequently relocated to the US and were undergoing treatment in that nation. In the aftermath of this incident, the WHO conducted a meeting to discuss the ethical issues involved in administering experimental drugs to individuals infected with the Ebola virus (Dionne, 2014). In addition, this drug had also been given to a small number of US health officials who had been infected with the Ebola virus in West Africa. The apparent success of this drug in combating the dread Ebola virus induced the US health officials to ask some of the most advanced biology laboratories to present it with plans for producing it (The Guardian, 2014). As such, the provision of healthcare is biased, and the above evidence demonstrates it adequately. The American missionaries had been given the promising new drug, whereas no attempt was

Kants morally impermissible actions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Kants morally impermissible actions - Essay Example Deontological ethical theory Immanuel Kant, a German philosopher proposed the theory of deontological ethical theory; this has the foundation on the point that only essentially good will is derived from a good thing. This implies that an action is evaluated when the motives or maxim behind it are evaluated, these can be looked at from two angles. First, evaluation of actions by taking into consideration their consequences, this is rejected, a person can control motives and purpose but lack the inability to control the consequences of his/her actions. Secondly what is ‘ought’ means ‘can’ this means that a person is held responsible morally only for a limited number of actions that are under his/her control. Logic as the Basis for Ethics: What action can be described as permissible and hence the converse implies impermissibility? An action is said to be permissible if its cause can be found to be logically consistent and an action is said to be impermissible if its cause is found to be irrational, inconsistent or contradictory (Sullivan 163). This arguments aid in avoidance of mistake and prejudice, provides tenable defense of moral motives, and implies a reply to moral skeptics. The argument can also be said to provide moral universality theory and to give the impression that immorality implies inconsistency and irrationality. For an action to be praiseworthy, the action must have foundation on a logically rational or consistent motive. A praiseworthy action is one that has foundation on a given motive that is obeying the moral law, moral laws are those that are consistent for everyone and are applicable to every other person. Permissible actions are as defined above are those that are because of a consistent motive and are done out of moral duty. The Categorical Imperative: Kant suggested that the moral duty is given to an agent by reason as a categorical imperative (McCracken 131) a person is told how to behave out of an imperative statement. Imperative statements can be considered on two occasions, hypothetical imperative is built on commands for accomplish a particular objective; categorical imperative is modeled on natural law. This becomes the focal point of Kant’s moral principle; to him the foundation of the principle cannot be anything but absolute. An attempt to rationalize morally impermissible behavior will prove self-defeating; this is known as morally impressible action (McCracken 131). An act is impermissible if and only if the action is acted upon the foundation of the maxim that a person cannot will to a universal law; therefore, the permissible action implies the converse. This implies that a person will do an action given the circumstance and because of a certain motiv e, this gives the reason for the action-the maxim. Every person will do actions given the set of circumstances and because of those motives; this means that a person’s actions is consistent with everyone’s actions. The murder example If a person is considering killing another person for egoistic reasons, because, the other person is committing adultery with his wife, consider the impermissibility of this case. The action, which is murder for egoistic reasons this gives the circumstance and finally the motive, is adultery. Every person will kill those people for egoistic reasons, because, these people have committed adultery with their wives. The first argument provides the maxim principle while the second argument provides the universal law; this cannot consistently will that people will commit all those actions this therefore means that the action is impermissible. This example above illustrate classifications of moral duties, the classifications are premised on these divisions, first, the duties to self by implication to others and perfect duties by implication imperfect duties. Perfect duties are done at every other chance whilst the imperfect duties are done at a unique chance but the agent must put thought to it. Violation of

Researced based analysis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Researced based analysis - Assignment Example Because the company invests substantially in research and development, the management is able to ensure that its manufacturing systems and training programs are able to keep pace with the latest developments in the industry. SWOT analysis The main strength of Filkar Inc. is the organizational capital that is invested in research and development. This investment enables the company to incorporate the latest technological developments into the manufacturing systems. As a result the company is able to manufacture the most competitive products in the industry. This is one of the key success factors because the industry is in a fast pace of change. Filkar Inc. also operates internationally so that it has to pay attention to maintaining the quality level. The investment in research and development enables the company to maintain the required level of quality in its product offerings. The company is able to combine technology with the existing manufacturing systems by using total quality ma nagement (Filkar Web, 2009). The application of this methodology enables the company to create synergies out of incorporating the latest technology in its manufacturing systems. ... The company’s strength in maintaining competitive quality is supported by the periodic training programs that ensure that its employees are among the most skilled in the industry. Because the motivational issues are addressed, the employees are also satisfied in working for the company. Therefore the productivity level is one of the most competitive in the industry. Filkar’s employees are its most important assets and the organizational culture reflects this strategic orientation. As a result employee interests and organizational interests are combined synergistically. This ensures that the strategic focus of the company is strengthened by strong productivity from the employees. The company’s weakness may be inability to respond to any disruptive technologies. The company has already made substantial investment in the existing manufacturing systems. Therefore if a competitor were to launch a new manufacturing system which would reduce the cost of production, then Filkar might not be able to make the change fast enough to remain competitive. Currently it is enjoying a market leadership position in the Turkish market because it has no competition. However it is also competing internationally. Therefore it is more than likely that international companies such as Westinghouse and GE can launch some transformational technology that will change the competitive landscape. In this situation the company might not be able to migrate to the new system. According to its performance management system, the company is doing well as it has the market leadership position in the domestic market. However if a competitor is able to cut costs significantly through the introduction of a new technology,

Discussion about influences has television had in our society Essay

Discussion about influences has television had in our society - Essay Example Television has both good influences and bad influences on society. The following essay will talk about these in detail. There is no doubt that Television has many good influences. Firstly, Television is an audio/visual medium making it easy for the audience to follow programs. It uses graphics, sound recording and film technology to bring lively and interesting material to the enjoyment of the audience. Many people when they come back from office or school switch on the Television and relax themselves. More importantly, it also provides news bulletins and science programs for gaining knowledge. For school-going children it offers sport programming like live baseball telecast, etc. All this are very useful and perform an important social role. In fact, Television has become such an important part of everyday life that we cannot imagine how life will be without Television. (Bignell, 2004) Television has been used for the purpose of education as well. For example, class-rooms can show s tudents interesting movies that are part of the curriculum. Class-room can also show recorded lectures and science documentaries. With respect to society, Television brings awareness about global issues so that all of us can act together. One example of this is global warming, about which information is provided in Television. With this we can act together and save the planet. Television also has plenty of advertisements. While some ads can be boring, some others provide information about products, which we can use when we go shopping. (Noll, 2011) Television not only performs a social role but also a family role. It brings all members of family together during evenings. In fact, it has become part of family routine at dinner time. Television gives news about weather conditions. We can take precautions against rain and storm by watching weather news. Also, Television is used these days in closed-circuit cameras for security reasons. On the negative side too, there are many points. F irst, watching Television for long time is bad for the eyes. Television can distract students from focussing on studies. It can make young children lazy and keep them away from books and sports. Parents are especially worried that Television has bad effect on society as it shows violence and crime. Young people can get the wrong idea about life watching such programs. For example, a young person watching use of guns on Television might later kill someone with a gun in real life. So it is very dangerous in cases like this. It also gives wrong idea about how to treat women, etc. In other words, Television can show women in stereotype fashion. Hence, not everything about Television is good. (Freedman, 2002) Television can cause problems in society by showing racial discrimination, etc. For example, if black people are not shown in programs, one gets the impression that they are not important people. Television news can also be flawed. For example, we cannot believe everything the news anchor says as truth. Sometimes they give inaccurate information to deceive the viewer. So one has to be careful about the truthfulness of news. Also, the information given in advertisements can be misleading. Many companies are just trying to make quick money and will show any false claims to sell products. So we have to be careful while watching Television. (Bignell, 2004) Finally, Television has many limitations which make it not useful for in-depth analysis. That is, Television can never replace the

Effects of coffee Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Effects of coffee - Essay Example Coffee contains caffeine which is considered a Central Nervous System (CNS) stimulant (Lovett 2005). Accordingly, â€Å"caffeine is the worlds most widely consumed psychoactive substance†. Balentine, Harbowy & Graham (1998) stipulated that â€Å"many natural sources of caffeine also contain widely varying mixtures of other xanthine alkaloids, including the cardiac stimulants theophylline and theobromine and other substances such as polyphenols which can form insoluble complexes with caffeine†. In the Science of Cooking, the article on caffeine exhibited its following properties, to wit: â€Å"soluble in ethyl acetate, chloroform, pyrimidine, pyrrole, tetrahydrofuran solution; moderately soluble in alcohol, acetone; slightly soluble in petroleum ether, ether, benzene†. In another study made specifically on Caffeine, it is found that â€Å"caffeine is metabolized in the liver by the cytochrome P450 oxidase enzyme system (specifically, the 1A2 isozyme) into three metabolic dimethylxanthines, which each have their own effects on the body: Theophylline (4%) Relaxes smooth muscles of the bronchi, and is used to treat asthma. The therapeutic dose of theophylline, however, is many times greater than the levels attained from caffeine metabolism.† (The Pharmacogenetics and Pharmacogenomics Knowledge Base) According to Bolton & Null (1981), the â€Å"precise amount of caffeine necessary to produce effects varies from person to person depending on body size and degree of tolerance to caffeine. It takes less than an hour for caffeine to begin affecting the body and a mild dose wears off in three to four hours. Consumption of caffeine does not eliminate the need for sleep: it only temporarily reduces the sensation of being tired. The International Coffee Organization presented that â€Å"of all the physiological effects of coffee, the best known is that it is a stimulant to the nervous system. One or two cups of

Discussion about influences has television had in our society Essay

Discussion about influences has television had in our society - Essay Example Television has both good influences and bad influences on society. The following essay will talk about these in detail. There is no doubt that Television has many good influences. Firstly, Television is an audio/visual medium making it easy for the audience to follow programs. It uses graphics, sound recording and film technology to bring lively and interesting material to the enjoyment of the audience. Many people when they come back from office or school switch on the Television and relax themselves. More importantly, it also provides news bulletins and science programs for gaining knowledge. For school-going children it offers sport programming like live baseball telecast, etc. All this are very useful and perform an important social role. In fact, Television has become such an important part of everyday life that we cannot imagine how life will be without Television. (Bignell, 2004) Television has been used for the purpose of education as well. For example, class-rooms can show s tudents interesting movies that are part of the curriculum. Class-room can also show recorded lectures and science documentaries. With respect to society, Television brings awareness about global issues so that all of us can act together. One example of this is global warming, about which information is provided in Television. With this we can act together and save the planet. Television also has plenty of advertisements. While some ads can be boring, some others provide information about products, which we can use when we go shopping. (Noll, 2011) Television not only performs a social role but also a family role. It brings all members of family together during evenings. In fact, it has become part of family routine at dinner time. Television gives news about weather conditions. We can take precautions against rain and storm by watching weather news. Also, Television is used these days in closed-circuit cameras for security reasons. On the negative side too, there are many points. F irst, watching Television for long time is bad for the eyes. Television can distract students from focussing on studies. It can make young children lazy and keep them away from books and sports. Parents are especially worried that Television has bad effect on society as it shows violence and crime. Young people can get the wrong idea about life watching such programs. For example, a young person watching use of guns on Television might later kill someone with a gun in real life. So it is very dangerous in cases like this. It also gives wrong idea about how to treat women, etc. In other words, Television can show women in stereotype fashion. Hence, not everything about Television is good. (Freedman, 2002) Television can cause problems in society by showing racial discrimination, etc. For example, if black people are not shown in programs, one gets the impression that they are not important people. Television news can also be flawed. For example, we cannot believe everything the news anchor says as truth. Sometimes they give inaccurate information to deceive the viewer. So one has to be careful about the truthfulness of news. Also, the information given in advertisements can be misleading. Many companies are just trying to make quick money and will show any false claims to sell products. So we have to be careful while watching Television. (Bignell, 2004) Finally, Television has many limitations which make it not useful for in-depth analysis. That is, Television can never replace the

Hurricane Katrina Essay Example for Free

Hurricane Katrina Essay Many countries that face the catastrophes today need the relief assistance particularly in the floods and the devastation of the earthquakes. The countries, particularly those undergoing difficult transitions, lack the public and private institutions and infrastructure necessary to meet the challenges posed by complex humanitarian emergencies need a collaborated effort to overcome the effects of the devastations. The requirement is to identify the need of a joint effort by the organizations and political stability is required to take timely actions. The disaster relief efforts are also to be identified which are to be continued to support developing and transitional states in a unified operational concept and the Disaster Prevention and Disaster Response cooperative initiatives. (Anna, 2005) The Japan for example experiences hundreds of seismic events annually; tropical cyclones (typhoons) are so frequent they are numbered and not named; and heavy rains accompanying typhoons often result in devastating mudslides that annually claim many lives. Although Japan seems to be well prepared to cope with natural disasters. Organizations with emergency response duties including fire, medical, police, environmental, etc. are professional and well equipped. (NPR, 2005) This expanded role of agencies in a collaborated disaster relief can be further defined to ensure the availability of technical competence in order to make their participation meaningful. The local agencies and community groups should not be underutilized and undermined by relief organizations. The knowledge, expertise and ability to communicate with local people can be invaluable for humanitarian relief programmers. The challenge for international agencies and NGOs is to assure, wherever possible and useful, the appropriate inclusion and collaboration of the local agencies into the system. Prior identification of local civil possible partners in disaster-prone countries and training of the required staff is one way to prepare for unexpected crisis. In some countries, local agencies and community groups exist with high levels of competence but may require outside technical and logistic support. In the United States, the Federal Response Plan describes how the federal government will assist the state and local governments when a major disaster or emergency overwhelms their ability to respond effectively (LeClaire, 2005). The plan assigns federal agency responsibility for twelve Emergency Support Functions. These cover the world of disaster response from transportation, public works and engineering, mass care, food energy and those to those functions that are vital to meet the challenges of the disasters. A few weeks ago, Hurricane Katrina, a category 5 hurricane, stormed the Gulf coast of the USA, affecting an area as large as the UK. Katrina completely destroyed of individuals. New Orleans is a major American city, with a devastated and evacuated exercise, with a fictitious category 3 hurricane named Pam, predicted the scenario accurately,1 As we impotently watched television, the disaster unfolded. The hospital scenes of combined internal and external disasters already described in Houston2 repeated prevent them. (Television Week, 2005) electricity, water, communication, and other vital services; Local and national leaders underestimated the storm and failed to the size of the tragedy in human lives and future ecological repercussions. Katrina left the affected region teams, evidence of complete lack of preparedness with insufficient immediately available physical and human resources, health-care systems incapacitated, urban anarchy, despicable crimes, while the world criticized American leaders and emergency organizations. Millions of jobs have been lost to the storm. New Orleans largest employer, Tulane University, hopes to reopen to students for the spring semester. The casino barges that helped revitalize the Mississippi coast are no more. Right now, only insurance agents and construction workers seem to have guaranteed employment in the storm-damaged areas. Disasters and Urban Renewal Monitoring of field activities is always difficult without the setting of objectives and standards for joint relief actions. Minimum operational goals should be defined for performance evaluation. Goal setting would also bring into focus the impact of the joint relief on the beneficiaries, both for acute and chronic disasters. Co-ordination and communication are the central point for the success of a joint disaster relief operation. In disaster situations, the joint and rapid operational decisions within a political and media environment can be very vital (WaterWorld, 2005). A rapid assessment of needs following a disaster is always a clearly and critical aspect of effective humanitarian action. The local Civil Hospital and other installation medical treatment facilities can have agreements with local hospitals covering certain medical procedures and emergencies on. These agreements can be extended to post disaster emergency care also. It is vital that a Manual should be developed as a Coordinating Manual for Disaster Relief Operations to provide basic coordination procedures between different agencies. There are an increasing number of disasters with a conflict dimension. The areas of further development in the field of collaborated disaster relief operation can be areas of research that can be proposed as having immediate utility to field operations. Disasters have security as well as other dimensions. After Hurricane Katrina tore through New Orleans the rest of the country became aware of the citys extreme poverty. This however, is not a new issue for the city of New Orleans. It was an obvious demonstration of how our country needs to step up its emergency relief effort to respond faster to these situations. But, was it a mistake they did not respond immediately? This is a question that is recently up for debate and we have decided to look deeper into. 67. 3% of the cities population is African American (68% of whom are in poverty) compared to the 28. 1% of whites. (2000 Census) It is interesting to compare the response to September 11, 2001 to the emergency response to Hurricane Katrina. The response the terrorist attacks in New York, whose population is almost the reverse of New Orleans 67. 9% White and 15. 9% African American (NY Census 2000), was immediate. It is amazing that New Orleans had days to prepare for Hurricane Katrina and they were well aware of its potential to destroy the city- however it never occurred to them to make everyone aware of the destruction this hurricane could cause. Through the Hurricane Pam simulation, scientists knew the level of damage that was going to be caused and knew that it would take at least 72 hours to evacuate before the hurricane made landfall. New Orleans had an evacuation plan that they poorly enforced when it came time to really implement it. Many valuable resources that could have saved lives went unused such as Amtrak trains evacuating valuable equipment from the area and offering to take several hundred passengers along with them. Lack of transportation was a major reason many people died. A large percentage of the people in poverty did not have their own means of transportation to get out of the city and could have put these offered resources to good use. It is unfortunate that these people were basically ignored when it came to the rescue effort. I feel that Louisiana Governor Blanco and New Orleans mayor Nagin could have made much better decisions when it came to evacuating the city that could have potentially saved thousands of lives. They let many resources go wasted and the poor decisions made by these people cannot be taken back. People will always be attracted to live near the shore, which leads to serious problems when evacuation is required. No matter the administration, Hurricane Katrina would still have had a devastating impact on the citizens and landscape of New Orleans. However, many lives would have been spared were it not for the mistakes of President Bush, Gov. Blanco, Mayor Nagin, and ex-FEMA director Michael Brown, in their unsuccessful attempts to contain the damage. The act of carrying out a complete mandatory evacuation is where most administrative mistakes were made. When officials made the order for evacuation, they ignored the fact that New Orleans has a poverty rate of 38 %(Wikipedia 4), one of the highest in the country. In addition to this, they did not account for the 120,000 people in New Orleans who were without transportation, which led to chaos after the order was given for a mandatory evacuation. Individuals were expected to find their own way out of the city, and due to an inadequate evacuation plan, thousands were left stranded in the city to survive on their own, most of which were poor, elderly, or sick(Wikipedia 4). New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, realizing the threat Katrina posed to his city, was the first to call for a full evacuation. He pleaded with Gov. Blanco to call for a mandatory evacuation, but Blanco was reluctant and decided to take 24 hours to make the decision, a delay that the people of New Orleans could not afford. Had this delay not occurred, there would have been adequate time to prepare mass public transportation of evacuees. Mayor Nagin was enraged by the governments reluctance to aid, and further expedited the evacuation process. Nagin publicly criticized the federal involvement in the evacuation, primarily attacking their failure to quickly provide buses. This lack of communication between city, state, and federal officials continues, and occurs throughout the disasters response and recovery efforts. Criticism of local and national response to the hurricane is widespread in the media. Local officials complain just days after the disaster about the lack visible presence of troops and FEMA. The presidential response to the hurricane was embarrassing. The day Katrina hit, Bush was at a ceremony in California, and did not break from his vacation until the next Wednesday, which left those affected by the hurricane with a feeling of abandonment. President Bush is also responsible for appointing an unqualified lawyer, Brown, to be the director of FEMA. Browns most critical mistake was his urging of all fire and emergency services departments not to respond to the counties and states affected by Hurricane Katrina without being requested and lawfully dispatched by state and local authorities(Wikipedia 8). This caused a serious clash between state, local, and federal governments, resulting in the loss of tons of critical aid materials. Having never dealt with crisis and natural disaster relief, Brown continued to inhibit the reconstructive and rescue efforts, resulting in many fatalities that could have been prevented had a more qualified individual been in the position. Similar delaying acts were performed by Vice President Dick Cheney. The day after the hurricane, Cheney ordered workers of the power company to divert power crews, who, at the time were restoring power to local hospitals, to substations that control the diesel fuel and gasoline flow from Texas to the northeast. The workers upsettingly questioned this diversion of labor and were told to perform it anyway. Cheney did this in an attempt to avoid fuel price gouging, however it proved to be unsuccessful, and there was an enormous spike in fuel costs following the hurricane. This graph, and attached data sheet show this dramatic increase: This action reaffirms the perceived attitude of unreceptiveness displayed by the government and authorities toward the victims of Katrina during the hurricanes relief effort. It is an undeniable fact that a category five hurricane will have devastating effects, no matter where it makes landfall. Due to the citys cultural and racial diversity, geographical structure, and inflated poverty, it was clear that Katrina was going to hit fast and hard. Just as predicted by weather forecasters, the hurricane quickly flooded the city and those who attempted to ride the storm out perished. Unfortunately, the governments policies implemented to help did not come as quickly, and as a result thousands of fatalities that could have been avoided were not. Three places in your home that are usually damaged by hurricanes are the roof, windows, doors, and there are things that can be done to strengthen these areas to minimize damage. Firstly investing in a stronger roof by placing more beams and securing the trusses by placing brasses to strengthen the roof structure, to protect your windows and doors the simplest effective method is by installing storms shutters which are basically thick boards of wood coving windows and doors. When it comes to prevention with hurricanes of a category 4 nature governments should have emergency plans in place, George Bush was criticized in the handling of hurricane Katrina, it even sparked of arguments that New Orleans was neglected due to its poverty stricken black communities. Although warnings were in place 24 hours before the hurricane hit and there was time for evacuation, a lack of services was provided. Although in the following hurricane Rita, The US government was quick to act while sending hundreds of busses to evacuate cities. Some officials in high positions were accused of a good-riddance insensitivity toward the export of the citys poverty and accompanying social ills. On a more positive note, many planners and scholars have called for the development of mechanisms that can accommodate the displaced poor population, who should be encouraged to return. The storm may have created an opportunity to address the issue of poverty and land use in a way that is much smarter than previous approaches (Cutter and others 2006). Racial and Economy Perspectives A major question affecting the future cultural and racial geography of New Orleans is how much of the African American population will return to the city. About two-thirds of Orleans Parish was African American before the storm; now the percentage is generally assumed to be much lower, although nobody really knows by how much. Half is a popularly held local presumption, but I have found no official figures to support it; data are difficult to come by. Will the loss of African Americans be permanent? If so, what will the cultural and racial imprint of the city be? What will its political geography look like if a large and reliably Democratic voting block disappears? Mayor Ray Nagin was clearly alarmed by the possibility of a permanent loss of the African American population when he steadfastly affirmed that displaced African Americans would return to a rebuilt city and that New Orleans would be chocolate at the end of the day. †¦ This city will be a majority African American city. Its the way God wants it to be. †¦ You cant have it no other way. It wouldnt be New Orleans (Pope 2006, 1). Part of the mayors angst arose from concern that a major influx of Hispanic workers to help rebuild the city, and the possibility that many in-migrants might stay permanently, would potentially alter the cultural and political balance of power in New Orleans. Although much of the storms face was poor and African American, in the final analysis Katrina was no respecter of class and race. One of the hardest-hit neighborhoods in New Orleans, Lakeview, is mainly Caucasian and middle-to-high income. New Orleans East, which some observers argue should never be rebuilt, is a suburb populated by a growing African American middle class. Venetian Isles and south Slidell contain some of the most desirable waterfront properties in the metropolitan area, many of which were adorned with beached sailboats after the storm. Meghan Stromberg observed that Katrinas obvious disregard for areas of wealth and privilege may work in favor of the citys recovery: Homeowners there have greater resources to rebuild sooner (Stromberg 2006). Of great concern is whether people with the technical and entrepreneurial skills needed by a rebuilding city will return. Unfortunately, these skills are often in high demand elsewhere, so people may be enticed to stay in their adopted homes. Mark Drennen, head of Greater New Orleans Inc. , a public-private partnership whose mission is to spearhead economic development in the New Orleans region, commented that this prospect is a huge concern. It occupies almost every meeting Im in all day long (Mowbray 2005). The longer companies put off returning to New Orleans, the more likely it is that they and their employees will not come back. On the bright side, there is always the red-beans-and-rice effectthe soul and culture of New Orleansthat keeps the natives coming back, even in the face of better economic opportunities elsewhere. Some commentators also speculate that there may be an influx of risk takers who spy opportunity in the rebuilding of New Orleans, giving the city a flesh jolt of people with entrepreneurial skills (Mowbray 2005). The absence of workers of all types is already being felt. Estimates that the Gulf Coast currently lacks 150,000 construction and maintenance workers have prompted the Business Roundtable, a Washington-based association of large-company chief executive officers, to develop a plan to recruit and train 20,000 new construction workers for the region (Sayre 2006). Accompanying the departure of the citys poor population was its supply of minimum-wage workers. Fast-food and convenience outlets are especially desperate for employees, to the point that one major hamburger chain is offering a bonus to new hires of $500 per month; other chains are advertising entry wage rates in excess of $9 per hour. Plumbers, electricians, and other tradespeople are in extremely short supply, partly because many of them never returned after evacuating and partly as a result of the huge surge in demand. The most common sign at business entrances today is Now Hiring. In a sense, future demography is destiny for New Orleans, not only in terms of racial and cultural makeup but also with respect to economic vitality (Frey 2005). Its cultural geography will be shaped by who comes back and who does not and by as yet unknown new migrants to the city. Conclusion The immensity of the disaster and the long rebuilding process will offer abundant research opportunities for geographers. The new footprint of the New Orleans metropolitan area will provide intriguing areas of study for planners as well as for economic, urban, and cultural geographers. Along the same lines, population geographers will want to track the status of the great New Orleans Diaspora. Of considerable interest to researchers will be the geography of debris and the environmental impact of millions of cubic yards of waste. Biogeographers will have an interest in the disruption of bird and animal habitats; and of course physical and environmental geographers will find a renewed impetus to continue their examination of the environmental risks associated with eroding coastlines. Hurricane Katrina laid bare New Orleans environmental vulnerabilities, social ills, and policy deficiencies. At the same time, the city that everybody knew before the storm was not destroyed and is slowly coming back. Already tourists have returned to the French Quarter, with its raucous good times; and the convention industry is regaining its footing. (If Katrina was Gods attempt to punish the city for its night life, it failed. ) Gradually, trust is being placed in a restored levee system. A new normal is emerging, unfortunately in some cases eerily reminiscent of the old normal. Only time will tell if the â€Å"new† New Orleans has learned its lessons from Katrina, or if sentimentality for the old New Orleans will set the city up for a repeat disaster. One can hope that future scholars will not worry again about how people manage to survive in such an unnatural and impossible city. As a hurricane can never actually be stopped or destroyed prevention is a little more vague it’s more of damage prevention rather than hurricane prevention. Although there are scientist researching in possible ways to lower storm intensity some of which include a substance that absorbs large amounts of water with small amounts of the substance being used up the idea is simple but somewhat impractical. In Conclusion, with today’s modern equipment we can predict and perceive a hurricanes power easily but it is nearly impossible to stop a hurricane, so prevention needs to be researched more, if any lesson was learnt from Katrina it is this. Many of the people included in the Diaspora and most visibly affected by the storm were poor and members of minorities, as for example in the hard-hit Lower Ninth Ward. They were among the thousands initially stranded, and then bused to out-of-town shelters. After Katrina an avalanche of media accounts and academic articles appeared on how the storm laid bare the environmentally linked economic and racial inequities within New Orleans, inequities with a long history. References Hurricane Katrina. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 22 July 2004, 10:55 UTC May03, 2007 http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Hurricane_Katrina/. Storm Surge. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 22 July 2004, 10:55 UTC May03, 2007 http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Storm_surge. Anna Badkhen. Hurricane Katrina: Relief Effort / Response Like Second Disaster; San Francisco Chronicle (CA), 09/11/2005 Congress Reacts to Hurricane Katrina Disaster. Water World, Oct2005, Vol. 21 Issue 10, p8-9, 2p Cutter, S. L. , C. T. Emrich, J. T. Mitchell, B. J. Boruff, M. Gall, and others. 2006. The Long Road Home. Environment 48 (2): 8-20. Frey, W. H. 2005. City Can Lure Back Its Reluctant Migrants (New Orleans). Times-Picayune [New Orleans], 30 November,  §B, 7. Jarrell, Jerry D. , Max Mayfield, and Edward N. Rappaport. The Deadliest, Costliest, and Most Intense United States Hurricanes from 1900 to 2000. Oct. 2001. NOAA/NWS/ Tropical Prediction Center. 28 Sept. 2005. Katz, B. , M. Fellowes, and M. Mabanta. 2006. Katrina Index: Tracking Variables of Post-Katrina Reconstruction. 3 May update. Washington, D. C. : The Brookings Institution, Metropolitan Policy Program. LeClaire, Jennifer. Katrina disaster trains a spotlight on homeowners policies. Christian Science Monitor, 9/8/2005, Vol. 97 Issue 200, p12-16, 2p Medias Role Vital in Katrina Disaster. Television Week, 9/12/2005, Vol. 24 Issue 37, p9-9, 1/4p Mowbray, R. 2005. Brightest Evacuees Weigh Option: Return to N. O. or Stay? NOLA. com. NPR; Analysis: Katrinas economic disaster Talk of the Nation, 09/0