Rap Music essays

Rap Music essays Music of different types has been criticized throughout the ages. A generation of parents worried about poor role models like Kiss and Marilyn Manson. Before that, they thought the Beatles hair was too long and Elvis shake too suggestive. Rocknroll was said to be demonic. Lately, Rap has been given a bad rap. Rappers like Ice-Cube, Dr. Dre and the late Eazy-E were all tired of other rap artists such as, the Fresh Prince, rapping about unreal issues. These artists want to express themselves, singing about issues that affect teenagers today. They want to talk about real life and portray their struggle of growing up. Rap music deals with sex, violence, drug use, suicide and so on. Adults seem to think that kids that listen to this will go out and commit violent crimes and develop anti social behaviour. No proof of this has ever been scientifically established. If kids are raised properly, they are no more likely to bash gays or assault women after listening to rap, than they would engage in drinking human blood after watching Queen of the Damned. Politicians, adults and parents need to give kids more credit. Teenagers who listen to rap messages dont seem to take things too seriously, recognizing the controversy for what it is clever marketing. Rap music cannot be help responsible for the acts of unstable individuals. For example, high school students who listen to violent rap lyrics before damaging property or pulling out a shotgun and killing their class mates surely cannot be considered mentally balanced. Millions of people listen to these same lyrics and hear them for what they are, and dont commit any crimes at all. As far as rap CDs being sold to teenagers, mandatory labeling has been introduced. This means that albums which contain explicit language or contain references to violence, drug or alcohol use, suicide or sexuality have a warning on the cover as well as a not ...

Introduction to Holography

Introduction to Holography If youre carrying money, a drivers license, or credit cards, youre carrying around holograms. The dove hologram on a Visa card may be the most familiar. The rainbow-colored bird changes colors and appears to move as you tilt the card. Unlike a bird in a traditional photograph, a holographic bird is a three-dimensional image. Holograms are formed by interference of light beams from a laser. How Lasers Make Holograms Holograms are made using lasers because laser light is coherent. What this means is that all of the photons of laser light have exactly the same frequency and phase difference. Splitting a laser beam produces two beams that are the same color as each other (monochromatic). In contrast, regular white light consists of many different frequencies of light. When white light is diffracted, the frequencies split to form a rainbow of colors. In conventional photography, the light reflected off an object strikes a strip of film that contains a chemical (i.e., silver bromide) that reacts to light. This produces a two-dimensional representation of the subject. A hologram forms a three-dimensional image because light interference patterns are recorded, not just reflected light. To make this happen, a laser beam is split into two beams that pass through lenses to expand them. One beam (the reference beam) is directed onto high-contrast film. The other beam is aimed at the object (the object beam). Light from the object beam gets scattered by the holograms subject. Some of this scattered light goes toward the photographic film. The scattered light from the object beam is out of phase with the reference beam, so when the two beams interact they form an interference pattern. The interference pattern recorded by the film encodes a three-dimensional pattern because the distance from any point on the object affects the phase of the scattered light. However, there is a limit to how three-dimensional a hologram can appear. This is because the object beam only hits its target from a single direction. In other words, the hologram only displays the perspective from the object beams point of view. So, while a hologram changes depending on the viewing angle, you cant see behind the object. Viewing a Hologram A hologram image is an interference pattern that looks like random noise unless viewed under the right lighting. The magic happens when a holographic plate is illuminated with the same laser beam light that was used to record it. If a different laser frequency or another type of light is used, the reconstructed image wont exactly match the original. Yet, the most common holograms are visible in white light. These are reflection-type volume holograms and rainbow holograms. Holograms that can be viewed in ordinary light require special processing. In the case of a rainbow hologram, a standard transmission hologram is copied using a horizontal slit. This preserves parallax in one direction (so the perspective can move), but produces a color shift in the other direction. Uses of Holograms The 1971 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to the Hungarian-British scientist Dennis Gabor for  his invention and development of the holographic method. Originally, holography was a technique used to improve electron microscopes. Optical holography didnt take off until the invention of the laser in 1960. Although holograms were immediately popular for art, practical applications of optical holography lagged until the 1980s. Today, holograms are used for data storage, optical communications, interferometry in engineering and microscopy, security, and holographic scanning. Interesting Hologram Facts If you cut a hologram in half, each piece still contains an image of the entire object. In contrast, if you cut a photograph in half, half of the information is lost.One way to copy a hologram is to illuminate it with a laser beam and place a new photographic plate such that it receives light from the hologram and from the original beam. Essentially, the hologram acts like the original object.Another way to copy a hologram is to emboss it using the original image. This works much the same way records are made from audio recordings. The embossing process is used for mass production.

The Warmth of Other Suns Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Warmth of Other Suns - Essay Example Trotter writes about the closeness of Isabel Wilkerson to the subject and her deep involvement in the stories which provide a new understanding as to why the Southerners opted for the new life in the strife-torn cities far away from their homes. The book contains more than one thousand two hundred real life stories of trials and tribulations of black individuals, the untold stories of American history. Gene Dattel in the review of the book discusses this serious issue from a slightly different perspective. He quotes from the book, â€Å"We’re the ones that killing ourselves.† (493)When about six million black people migrated to the North, it created a national level problem, not the regional one. The picture was not rosy for the migrants. Many of the top black leaders were disappointed by the attitude of blacks and their involvement in the dark sides of life. According to the observation of Ida Mae Bandon Gladney, one of the migrants to the North, â€Å"Chicago’s black ghetto had become a cesspool of crime, drugs and dilapidated neighborhoods. It was also Chicago that frustrated Dr. Martin King Jr.’s attempt to bring the civil rights movement to the North in 1966.† The author advocates introspection for the blacks and opines that they are in a way responsible for their plight. The book connects well to the volatile social conditions in America, of the 1960s and throws light on the tensions within the relationship of blacks and whites. But the author is unable to provide tangible solutions to the century old problems confronting the blacks, though they get full legal protection under the American

Conversation between men and women Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Conversation between men and women - Essay Example This is because men and women do not interpret things the same way. They react differently during conversations. This in turn creates a lot of conflicts and misunderstandings. The question that arises is as to whether men do not listen to women as they claim or is it that women do not understand men and how they participate during conversations. It is as to whether people can understand and appreciate each other despite of their gender differences and hence walk out of conversations feeling listened to and well understood. In this essay, my main focus will be on the reasons why men and women communicate the way they do and what can be done so that there may be effective communication across the gender divide. It will be argued out that the way we talk is largely influenced by the kind of values that are instilled in us especially o by our parents and the society we live in and not necessarily the way we choose or want to. We need to understand each other when we are communicating in order to avoid instances where conflicts arise due to miscommunications. We needlessly blame "others or ourselves------ or the relationship" (Tannen pg. 17) instead of identifying the gender differences that we have among us and try to understand and accommodate them. Boys and girls essentially are instilled with different sets of cultural values hence it seems that when men and women converse it is like people from two different cultures conversing. Obviously, there will be conflicts due to cultural differences. (Tannen pg. 18) shows that "because boys and girls grow up in what are essentially different cultures...talk between women and men is that of cross-cultural communication" .The fact that the society teaches males and females differently makes them relate differently to one another hence the need to understand each other. Men naturally strive to seek for competition in their conversation so that they are not seen to be losers. They need to show that they are competent and therefore the best in every issue that arises in a conversation. That is why they always give details even on what they have not been asked. The society has taught them to strive to be always dominating and never to appear like they are being controlled. She calls this kind of conversation from men as "report talk". Women on the other hand tend to communicate with the intention of obtaining acceptance in a relationship so that they get the feeling that they belong. According to women, "talk is the glue that binds or holds relationships together" (Tannen pg.85), thus women try to confirm that they are supportive to men by listening keenly so as to establish a good relationship with the men. According to Tannen, women see the world as a network of connections that need to be supported and accepted. They struggle to maintain closeness a nd hence enhance relationships. She calls this "rapport talk". Another problem that occurs on conversations between men and women is consultation. Most women will complain that men do not try to ask about something before they endeavor to undertake it even when they do not have knowledge about it. Tannen gives an example of how women try to consult the husband before inviting someone to their home. This is to ensure that her relationship with the husband remains good. On the contrary, men choose to bring a visitor home without consulting the wife if they sense the visitor will

Iran And Weapons Of Mass Destruction Essay Example for Free

Iran And Weapons Of Mass Destruction Essay Iran is a signatory to the international treaties that prohibits production and keeping of weapons of mass destruction. These treaties are; the chemical weapons convection, the biological weapons convention and the nuclear Non-Profiliferation Treaty (NPT). Despite its ratification of these treaties, Iran is currently believed to be possessing weapons of mass destruction. After the Iraq-Iran war in early 1980s, Ayatollah Khomeini resolved to pursue nuclear research after he lost about 100,000 soldiers and civilians due to chemical weapons attacks by the Iraqis. Controversy has surrounded the Iranian nuclear weapons program for decades now. While the country maintains that its uranium enrichment program is solely meant for peaceful purposes and the current international atomic energy agency director general, Yukiya Amano claiming that there are no evidence in IAEA reports that Iran has plans to develop weapons of mass destruction, the United States through its congressional research paper believes that Iran had long finished developing nuclear weapons in 2003. The world is equally divided over the Iranian nuclear weapon program. Only a few European countries are siding with the United States and countries like Russia do not believe in the allegations that Iran has or has plans to develop nuclear weapons. Most countries from the East like China, Turkey, Syria, Afghanistan, the Arab League as well as Gulf Cooperation Council, have expressed their full support for Iran to pursue what they call a peaceful nuclear energy. But what are the implications of a nuclear energy in the hands of Iranians? The Iranian nuclear program has earned many foes and allies in almost equal measure. One of the greatest critics of the Iranian nuclear energy is the United States. The strain relationship between the countries dates back to three centuries when the Islamic revolution in Iran swept the US strong ally Shah out of power. When Ayatollah Khomeini came to power after the revolution, he driven the country’s foreign policy away from the United States and the two countries have ever since been polar opposites in virtually every foreign policies. Diplomatic relations between the two nations was broken in early 1980 and the Swiss government took over representation of American interest the following year. While in the United States, the Pakistani government assumed representation of Iranian affairs. However, the Iranian government has its own representative to the UN in New York City. In 1981, following the Algiers declaration, the US-Iran Claims Tribunal (situated at The Hague, Netherlands) was formed to resolved issues between the nationals of the two countries. However, this engagement has always remain and dealt with legal matters only . The Iranian nuclear program has only worked over the years to strain the diplomatic relations further. American government by executive orders made by its president and also by the congressional legislation bars any form of trade with Iran. These sanctions were imposed because of Iran’s continued pursuance of its nuclear program and its noncompliance with the IAEA demands. Iran is further accused of sponsoring terrorists and terror activities as well as of having poor human rights record. However, the American government has always maintained that these sanctions only target the Iranian government engagement with the US and not the citizens of Iran. The US therefore permits certain trades that would help the nationals of Iran. Such engagement as relief donations by the American nationals and NGOs, export of medical and agricultural products from US to Iran and import of foodstuff from Iran are permitted. The American government has at times lifted the trade sanctions especially in times of humanitarian crises like was the case in 2003 during the Ban earthquake. Obstacles to diplomatic relations between the countries however, still remain unresolved. The United States is mainly concerned with the Iranian authorities’ lack of compliance with the IAEA and accused their counterparts of pursuing a risky ambition that would threaten peace in the world. The US fears over the Iran’s nuclear is connected with their allegations that Iran has been sponsoring terror activities. Iran has always objected to the peace deal favoring the Israel and has been accused of undermining the Middle East peace process through its continued arming of militia and terror groups like Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Hamas. The risks a nuclear Iran would subject the world to through its continued association with militia and terror groups is one of the reason sanctions are being imposed not only by the US government but also by the European union and the United Nations security council. The Iran nuclear program would not be a threat to Israel but also the world at large. Analysis of the frosty relations between Iran and Israel would shed more light on how the world would be threatened by Iran as a nuclear power. Iran is the second largest country with a Jewish population in the Middle East after Israel and some notable figures in Israel are known to have originated from Iran. The two countries had had good relations when Iran was ruled by the Shah, but after the Islamic revolution of Iran, Israel and the Iran’s ruling clergy have had hostile ties with Iran refusing to recognize Israel. However, even during the hostile relationship, Israel helped United States sell arms to Iran as part of the infamous Iran-Contra scandal. In recent times, the United States has been very much vocal against the Iranian nuclear program. Israel on the other hand has always been ready to disarm the Iranians of their missiles and other weapons considered destructive. They have even considered tactically deploying their nuclear weapons to clear off the Iranian nuclear facilities. Although Israel has never officially confirmed the number of its nuclear weapons, it is whispered in the international security circles that the country has about 200-400 weapons of mass destruction and is the only country possessing a nuclear weapons in the Middle East. And it is not lost to many that Israel had bombed the Iraqi facility believed to have been part of its nuclear programs. The perennial conflict between Israel and Palestinians has not help matters either. The Palestinians continued migration to south Lebanon led the formation of militant groups like Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Palestine Islamic Jihad among others. Although these groups have been considered terrorists groupings by many countries, Iran disagrees. It has not only offered these groups material support in terms of weapons but regard the groups as organizations fighting for a justified cause and publicly offer them moral support. These groups especially the Hezbollah regard the Iran spiritual leader as their ultimate authority and the groups themselves have confirmed that all political decisions concerning their affairs are referred and made in Iran. For example, the Iran spiritual leader himself is said to have favored the Hezbollah’s participation in the Lebanese politics. In light of these revelations, it would be appropriate to say that Iran is sponsoring suicide bombers at least indirect to fight the Israelis. The Iranians and the leaders have always denounced Israel and more often pronounce death of Israel in different forms. The Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is on record claiming that Israel ought to be wiped off from the face of the earth and even questioned why the holocaust did not perform it once and for all. We may argued that the Iranian president does not wield so much power and that the spiritual leader who at some point sought ceasefire and normalized relations with the Israelis, is the real source of power. But the ruling clergy is up to no good if his agitations to have Hezbollah become a full political outfit which was objected to by the United States is anything to go by. Looking back at the recent events in Lebanon where Israel suffered a humiliating defeat in the hands of Hezbollah, the influence of Iran and its militant group, Hezbollah in the Middle East was just given a shot in the arm. We may argue that Iran never started its nuclear weapons program with Israel in mind. But going by the unrelenting anti-Israel rhetoric by its leaders, it would be quite in order to say that Iran’s number one enemy right now is Israel and given opportunity would go ahead and wipe out the entire nation. Only nuclear weapons would put it at par with Israel and make it achieve the mass destruction they would love to see. Again, sorting out Israel as its number one enemy, Iran is simply creating more enemies. With the United States leading the pack of countries associating and supporting Israel, Iranians would declare war with any nation oppose to their policies against Israel. Diplomacy and Alternatives President Bush’s efforts to halt the Iranians’ uranium enrichment program had been focused on building a strong international coalition that would impose tough sanctions against Iran intended to punish and isolate until it abandons its plans to develop nuclear weapons program. The country on the other hand, maintains its nuclear program is intended for peaceful uses. When president Obama came into power, the first thing he announced regarding his foreign policy was to negotiate with Iran and talk it out of its nuclear weapons program. So far nothing tangible is coming from the Iranian side. The major problem in this whole process is that Iranian leaders are simply not willing to talk and even as Washington tries to pursue diplomacy, Tehran is determined on carrying on with its program. The Obama administration should not just explore this option without understanding their Iranian counterparts. From the developments so far, it seems Tehran is not about to make a compromise on its program. But where does this leave Obama with his pledge for a more engagement with Tehran? Besides diplomacy, are there other options left for Washington? The present world security situation is quite disturbing. The world and more specifically the United States national security is currently threatened either directly or indirectly by the developments in Iran and this should inform president Obama to realize that shunning any further contact with Iran is a luxury American cannot afford. But then the issue is complicated with the popularly-driven opposition that may be demoralized if American approaches the matter with high-handedness. A continued engagement with Tehran therefore would call for clear understanding of the nature of Iran politics and policies. My first and last option has always been engagement and engagement. The America should keep this door of dialogue wide open. However, it would be careless of us if we are only concerned with the nuclear issue. Apart from addressing the other security concerns such as Afghanistan and Iraq which Iran is threatening, the Obama administration should embark on holding the regime accountable for human rights violations. Iran has always had a problem adhering to international standards of justice. Although the word is quite commonly used by the Iranian leaders it lacks any respect at all among the Iranian officials. I have a strong belief that raising the human rights issue would make the Tehran regime think twice about using brutality and repression against its people. Failure to address the human rights issue, Americans would be creating an impression among the people of Iran that it is a cynical superpower out to cut deals at their own expense. All said, we must understand that dialogue was never an end in itself but a means to halt Iran’s nuclear plans and to check its regional policies. We should hope that dialogue bare fruits and we must believe in our secretary of states Hillary Clinton and her undersecretary Bill Burns as skilful diplomats. However, my greatest concern is that the Tehran regime is not willing to reach a compromise with Washington. In essence, the problem in Iran is in their present leaders rather than the country’s nuclear ambitions. This does not means that we overthrow the current regime through the pro-active democracy utterances of the president Bush and his administration. We should believe in the Iranian as being capable of shaping their destiny. And therefore, Americans should refrain from using policies that would jeopardize the current momentum of opposition movements in the country. This would call for a skillful and careful â€Å"engagement† that would broaden the dialogue beyond just nukes and treading away from military confrontation. I believe Ahmadinejad and the spiritual leader would most welcome a US military strike; it may offer them a lifeline to crush popular dissent and right internal political rifts. Finally, obama may be thinking of tougher sanctions going by the statement made by his secretary of states Hillary Clinton in late May. The problem with trade sanctions is that they have been there for almost 30 years now but nothing much has changed and I have a belief that Iran is used to it now. If they refused the carrot and stick of President Bush, what tells us now that Iran would play ball? Our option must be a change in approach in our engagement. Conclusion For over two decades of dialogue, diplomacy and sanctions have achieved a little impact in the Iran’s nuclear plans. They have delayed such a program, made its operations and nuclear programs more covert and have continuously highlighted the risks Iran is posing to itself and the world. Such policies however, have never stopped Iran from acquiring long-range missiles, the technology as well as production facilities for making nuclear weapons. The United States therefore needs to change tact in its dealing with the Tehran regime and in containing its nuclear weapons ambitions.

Class Differences in Blood Brothers, by Willy Russell Essay -- Blood Br

Willy Russell creates a play to show us the class differences that existed in Liverpool in the 1980’s. He does this by showing us the contrasting lives of the two boys and their mothers. Mrs Lyons has an easy life and Mrs Johnston has a hard life and has to work hard to earn a living. The same applies to the boys as Mickey has the hard life and Eddie has the easy life. Willy Russell also shows us that education, living conditions, housing and wealth can be affected as a direct result of your class and social background. This meant that the people from working class backgrounds had a harder life because they didn’t have the same opportunities. During the 1980’s a lot of people were made redundant because mills and factories closed down, reducing the number of jobs. First on stage is Mrs Johnston, the stage directions describe her as ‘thirty, but looks sixty’. This tells us that the she looks withered and old because of all the strenuous work she has to do. Russell helps us to realise her desperate situation in many ways. One of the ways he does this is by telling us she has seven kids. Although she is a young woman she is old in appearance. As a single mum she has to cope with the pressures of bringing seven children up on her own. One of the ways this is shown is when kid one says ‘Mam. The baby’s crying. He wants a bottle. Where’s the milk?’. After this her other three kids start complaining about them not having enough to eat. When the mother starts singing you can tell that she is trying her best to make the kids happy but doesn’t have the money to do so. She tries to reassure them by saying ‘Next week I’ll be earning, there’ll be loads of stuff to eat’. She is dreaming about the food but deep down sh... ...ife because it affects your job opportunities if you have a poor education. For example someone with an A* has a better chance then someone with a D of getting the job if they applied for the same job. If you go to a private school you have a better chance of passing because there are fewer students so the teacher can help you more because there is more time. In the end it depends on your class which determines whether you can go to a private school or not. If you’re from a rich family you can got to a private school and you will have a much better chance of passing your exams. But if you’re from a poor family then you will have to go to a government school and you will have less chance of passing. It also depends on your hard work and not the school you attend because if you are truanting and you go to a higher achieving school then you will still fail.

Hw Chapter4

5. 4. You have found three investment choices for a one-year deposit: 10% APR Compounded monthly, 10% APR compounded annually, and 9% APR compounded daily. Compute the EAR for each investment choice. (Assume that there are 365 days in the year. ) Sol: 1+EAR= (1+r/k)k So, for 10% APR compounded monthly, the EAR is 1+EAR= (1+0. 1/12)12 = 1. 10471 => EAR= 10. 47% For 10% compounded annually, the EAR is 1+EAR= (1+0. 1)=1. 1 * EAR= 10% (remains the same). For 9% compounded daily 1+EAR= (1+0. 09/365)365 = 1. 09416 * EAR= 9. 4% 5-8. You can earn $50 in interest on a $1000 deposit for eight months.If the EAR is the same regardless of the length of the investment, how much interest will you earn on a $1000 deposit for a. 6 months. b. 1 year. c. 1 1/2 years. Sol: Since we can earn $50 interest on a $1000 deposit, Rate of interest is 5% Therefore, EAR = (1. 05)12/8 -1 =7. 593% a) 1000(1. 075936/12 – 1) = 37. 27 b) 1000(1. 07593? 1) = 75. 93 c) 1000(1. 075933/2 ? 1) = 116. 03 5-12. Capita l One is advertising a 60-month, 5. 99% APR motorcycle loan. If you need to borrow $8000 to purchase your dream Harley Davidson, what will your monthly payment be? Sol: Discount rate for 12 months is, 5. 99/12 = 0. 499167%C= 8000/[1/0. 004991(1-1/(1+0. 004991)60)] = $154. 63 5-16. You have just purchased a home and taken out a $500,000 mortgage. The mortgage has a 30-year term with monthly payments and an APR of 6%. a. How much will you pay in interest, and how much will you pay in principal, during the first year? b. How much will you pay in interest, and how much will you pay in principal, during the 20th year (i. e. , between 19 and 20 years from now)? Sol: a. APR of 6%/12 = 0. 5% per month. Payment = 500,000/[(1/. 005)(1- 1/1. 005360)]= $2997. 75 Total annual payments = 2997. 75 ? 12 = $35,973. Loan Balance after 1 year is 2997. 5[1/0. 005(1- 1/1. 005348)] = $493,860. Therefore, 500,000 – 493,860 = $6140 is principal repaid in first year. Interest paid in 1st year is 35,9 73 – 6140 = $29833. b. Loan balance in 19 years (or 360 – 19? 12 = 132 remaining pmts) is 2997. 75[1/0. 005(1- 1/1. 005192)]= $289,162 Loan Balance in 20 years = 2997. 75[1/0. 005(1- 1/1. 005120)] = $270,018 Therefore, Principal repaid = 289,162 – 270,018 = $19,144, and Interest repaid =$35,973 – 19,144 = $16,829. 5-20. Oppenheimer Bank is offering a 30-year mortgage with an APR of 5. 25%. With this mortgage your monthly payments would be $2000 per month.In addition, Oppenheimer Bank offers you the following deal: Instead of making the monthly payment of $2000 every month, you can make half the payment every two weeks (so that you will make 52 ? 2 = 26 payments per year). With this plan, how long will it take to pay off the mortgage of $150,000 if the EAR of the loan is unchanged? Sol: For every 2 weeks payment = 2000/2 = 1000. 1 year = 26 weeks. Therefore, (1. 0525)1/26 = 1. 001970. So, discount rate = 0. 1970%. Here, PV of loan payments is the outstandi ng balance. 150, 000= (1000/0. 001970)[1- 1/(1. 001970)N] If we solve for N,We get N= 177. 98. So, it takes 178 months to pay off the mortgage. If we decide to pay for 2 weeks, then 178*2= 356 weeks. 5-24. You have credit card debt of $25,000 that has an APR (monthly compounding) of 15%. Each month you pay the minimum monthly payment only. You are required to pay only the outstanding interest. You have received an offer in the mail for an otherwise identical credit card with an APR of 12%. After considering all your alternatives, you decide to switch cards, roll over the outstanding balance on the old card into the new card, and borrow additional money as well.How much can you borrow today on the new card without changing the minimum monthly payment you will be required to pay? Sol: Here the discount rate = 15/12 = 1. 25%. Assuming that monthly payment is the interest we get, 25,000*0. 15/12= $312. 50. This is perpetuity. So the amount can be borrowed at the new interest rate is thi s cash flow discounted at the new discount rate. The new discount rate is 12/12 = 1%. So, PV = 312. 50/0. 01 = $31,250. So by switching credit cards we are able to spend an extra 31, 250 ? 25, 000 = $6, 250. We do not have to pay taxes on this amount of new borrowing, so this is our after-tax benefit of switching cards. -28. Consider a project that requires an initial investment of $100,000 and will produce a single cash flow of $150,000 in five years. a. What is the NPV of this project if the five-year interest rate is 5% (EAR)? b. What is the NPV of this project if the five-year interest rate is 10% (EAR)? c. What is the highest five-year interest rate such that this project is still profitable? Sol: a. NPV = –100,000 + 150,000 / 1. 055 = $17,529. b. NPV = –100,000 + 150,000 / 1. 105 = –$6862. Here we need to calculate the IRR. Therefore, IRR = (150,000 / 100,000)1/5 – 1 = 8. 45%. 5-32. Suppose the current one-year interest rate is 6%.One year from now, you believe the economy will start to slow and the one-year interest rate will fall to 5%. In two years, you expect the economy to be in the midst of a recession, causing the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates drastically and the one-year interest rate to fall to 2%. The one-year interest rate will then rise to 3% the following year, and continue to rise by 1% per year until it returns to 6%, where it will remain from then on. a. If you were certain regarding these future interest rate changes, what two-year interest rate would be consistent with these expectations? . What current term structure of interest rates, for terms of 1 to 10 years, would be consistent with these expectations? c. Plot the yield curve in this case. How does the one-year interest rate compare to the 10-year interest rate? Sol: a. The one-year interest rate is 6%. If rates fall next year to 5%, then if you reinvest at this rate over two years you would earn (1. 06)(1. 05) = 1. 113 per dollar invested. This amount corresponds to an EAR of (1. 113)1/2 – 1 = 5. 50% per year for two years. Thus, the two-year rate that is consistent with these expectations is 5. 0%. b. Year| Future Interest Rate| FV from re-investing| EAR| 1| 6%| 1. 0600| 6. 00%| 2| 5%| 1. 1130| 5. 50%| 3| 2%| 1. 1353| 4. 32%| 4| 3%| 1. 1693| 3. 99%| 5| 4%| 1. 2161 | 3. 99%| 6| 5%| 1. 2769 | 4. 16%| 7| 6%| 1. 3535 | 4. 42%| 8| 6%| 1. 4347 | 4. 62%| 9| 6%| 1. 5208 | 4. 77%| 10| 6%| 1. 6121 | 4. 89%| c. We can get the yield curve by considering all EARs above. It is an inverted curve. 5-36. You are enrolling in an MBA program. To pay your tuition, you can either take out a standard student loan (so the interest payments are not tax deductible) with an EAR of 5 ? or you can use a tax-deductible home equity loan with an APR (monthly) of 6%. You anticipate being in a very low tax bracket, so your tax rate will be only 15%. Which loan should you use? Sol: APR is given, So we can get EAR by, (1+0. 06/12)12 = 1. 06168. So, EAR = 6. 168%. We have to convert the before tax rate to after tax rate. 6. 168? (1- 0. 15) = 5. 243% Since student loan is higher after tax rate, it is better to use home equity loan. 5-40. You firm is considering the purchase of a new office phone system. You can either pay $32,000 now, or $1000 per month for 36 months. . Suppose your firm currently borrows at a rate of 6% per year (APR with monthly compounding). Which payment plan is more attractive? b. Suppose your firm currently borrows at a rate of 18% per year (APR with monthly compounding). Which payment plan would be more attractive in this case? Sol: a. The payments are as risky as the firm’s other debt. So, opportunity cost = debt rate. PV(36 month annuity of 1000 at 6%/12 per month) = $32,871. So we need to pay cash. b. PV(annuity at 18%/12 per months) = $27,661. So we can pay over time.

Interview With Manager Essay

Throughout the essay, the managers will be referred to as Mr X and Mr Y and their company’s will be referred to as Company X and Company Y respectively due to confidential reasons. The first manager that was interviewed in order to fulfil this task was Mr X. He works for Company X, which is, a large service based organisation at the position of ‘Head of Corporate Credit Administration.’ His key responsibility at this bank is to provide credit administration support to Corporate, Investment banking and SME business. Within Company X’s hierarchy Mr X appears to be a middle level manager at he is expected to report to the CEO of the company while he also supervises. The second interview that was conducted for this task was with Mr Y. He is a Creative Marketing Director at Company Y which is a marketing consultancy and IT development enterprise located in Malaysia. His organisation is also service based; however, it is a medium sized one. As a top level manager , Mr Y’s task is to direct and oversee the overall projects and ensure that they are carried out as planned and are successful. Management is the process of coordinating and overseeing the work activities of others so that their activities are completed efficiently and effectively (Robbins, Bergman, Stagg & Coulter, 2012). In the subsequent essay, the universality of management will be discussed in light of Fayol’s four functions and Katz’s three skills and how relevant these theories appear while analysing the information gathered from the interviews. Henri Fayol proposed that that all managers perform five functions: planning, organising, commanding, coordinating and controlling (Robbins, Bergman, Stagg & Coulter, 2012). During the course of the essay, however, the emphasis will remain on the four functions: planning, organising, leading and controlling. A skill is the ability either to perform some specific behavioral task or the ability to perform some specific cognitive process that is functionally related to some particular task (Peterson, 2004). For the purpose of this task Katz’s skills will be related to the interviews collected. Namely these are: Conceptual, Human and Technical skills. Mr. X is involved in a moderate amount of planning as he defines the credit policies fo r the corporate portfolio. Moreover, he has to cascade the defined goals to individual job levels and monitors them closely for accomplishment. In his organization, high achievers are often rewarded with awards and cash bonuses which serve as a motivation. Reports are also  compiled frequently to monitor portfolio behavior and to make sure that customer’s expectations at various occasions are fulfilled. At the same time, he is also expected to be able to work with various other departments to ensure smooth transactional processing. These tasks of Mr. X relate to the organizing function of Fayol, that is, the providing of everything essential in performing a particular task i.e. the right equipment and tools with right people and right amount of capital (Fayol, 1949, as cited in Lamond, 1998). It is not enough to just organize the employees and assign them jobs to perform. But what is more important is to know that which employee is specialized in which job (best suited for a particular task) and assign them jobs accordingly (Fayol, 1949, as cited in Lamond, 1998). Mr. X’s interview conveys that he is the most involved in leading, organizing and controlling with a moderate amount of planning. All this is in line with the existing theories of what a middle level manager ought to do. However, he has rated controlling as ‘4’ which is rather high for a middle level manager. Theory says that a middle-level manager is only expected to contribute 14% of his tasks to controlling (Stephen Robbins, 2012, p.19). Mr. X rated the need of human skills as ‘5’. These skills are important for managers at all levels (Robbins, Bergman, Stagg & Coulter, 2012).   Hence, it falls in line and confirms Katz’s theory. However, Mr. X’s rating of the other two skills and the theory related to those seem to be contradicting as he rates technical skills and conceptual skills as very much while according to Katz, a middle level manager is expected to possess moderate amounts of each. Thus, in Mr. X’s case, Fayol’s four functions seem to be evident while Katz’s theory appears to not be relevant to his job description and tasks expected out of him. Managers can manage action directly, they can manage people to encourage then to ta ke necessary actions, and they can manage information to influence the people in turn to take their necessary actions (Mintzberg, 1994). Being a part of a board member, Mr. Y claims that he is involved in a moderate amount of planning (rating of ‘3’), along with, employing the correctly skilled people for a task that is most suitable for them. Mr. Y feels that it is his responsibility, being a senior, to inspire his subordinates and provide them with the recognition that they require to be able to excel in their respective fields. A weekly reporting system is used in Company Y to check through the company’s progress and its employee’s  efficiency and effectiveness. Thus, there is quite a lot of leading and controlling, followed by organising and planning is the least of them all. Fayol’s four functions seem to be in accordance with Mr. Y’s job description except for the function of controlling which, for a top level manager, should be the lowest and in this case it is rated as a ‘5’ (very much). Technical skills are defined as the understanding of, or proficiency in, specific activities that require the use of specialized tools, methods, processes, procedures, techniques, or knowledge (Peterson, 2004). Relating back to Katz’s theory, a top level manager is expected to possess very little of technical skills which contradicts with Mr. Y’s rating of ‘3’ for technical skills. The real performance of the manager is the knowledge base of the manager (Carroll & Gillen, 1987). Being a top level manager, it is generally assumed that Mr. Y should have very much of conceptual skills which will enable him to think outside the box as he also claims that it extremely hard to be creative on demand, which is something that his job requires of him. Conceptual skills are generally thought to be needed more as the level of managing gets higher. Along with this, human skills are also vital for a manager at all levels. These skills allow the manager to train, direct, and evaluate subordinates performing specialized tasks (Peterson, 2004). However, Mr. Y has overrated technical skills and underrated conceptual skills in relation to his job. Hence, this contradicts with the outlined theory and Katz’s skills come across as irrelevant while analyzing Mr. Y’s job. Hence, it can be concluded that Fayol’s functions are more relevant and evident in Mr. Y’s descriptions of his job, as compared to Katz’s theory which is mostly contradicting with the information provided by Mr. Y. Although there is some empirical support for the influence of hierarchical level and functional specialty on managerial role requirements, the influence of these factors on required skills, knowledge, and abilities remains more speculative in nature (Pavett & Lau, 1983). If management is truly a generic principle, then what managers do should be essentially the same whether they are top level executives or low-level supervisors, in a business firm or a non-profit arts organization†¦(Robbins, Bergman, Stagg & Coulter, 2012). With advancements in technology and changing ideologies, the traditional definition of an organization is changing along with the traditional definitions of a manager. The roles that  managers play and the expectations that o thers have of them are evolving to reflect new forms of organization (Chapman, 2001). During the past ten years or so, the usefulness of the classical functions for classifying managerial work activities has been questioned by a number of writers (Carroll & Gillen, 1987). Similarities can be observed between the two managers with reference to moderate amounts of planning and organising involved. Both managers also recognized human skills as highly important. These similarities could be due to both the managers being linked with the service sector. On the other hand, there are some evident differences that cannot be ignored. Mr. X requires very much of technical skills and conceptual skills, while Mr. Y needs only a moderate amount of both. No significant difference can be obtained in light of Fayol’s functions. Mintzberg (1980) proposed that differences in managerial work involve the relative importance of the roles across hierarchical level and functional specialty (Lachman, 1985). Hence, these differences are probably due Mr. X being a middle level manager wh ile Mr. Y is a top level one. Also, Mr. X comes from a public sector while Mr. Y relates to a private one. Furthermore, Mr. Y works for a medium sized organization where the need for technical and conceptual skills rises very seldom which is why he rates it so low. On the other hand, Mr. X, working in a large organization rates them higher as the circumstances are different. Managers in both small and large organisations perform essentially the same activities, but how they go about them and the proportion of time they spend on each one are different (Robbins, Bergman, Stagg & Coulter, 2012). Regardless of their level, all managers make decisions and all managers are viewed to be performing the four functions of planning, organising, leading and controlling. However, the time dedicated to any particular function cannot be merely stated as a fact as it tends to vary from manager to manager. After analyzing the interviews, it can be concluded that Fayol’s four functions are found to be relevant in the light of the managers interviewed, but at a varied degree. How relevamt are Katz’s skills? Examining the interviews separately, the skills stated do not seem to support the theory, except for the human skills. Although these skills are defined and explained separately, they will be interrelated when enforced to managerial problems. Therefore, looking at the general overview of the functions and skills, they appear to be the universal guideline for managers  even though the level of importance for each individual function or skills may be different. Reference List Carroll, S., & Gillen, D,. (1987). Are the classical management functions useful in describing managerial work? Academy of Management Review, 12(1), 38-51. Chapman, J.A., (2001). The work of managers in new organisational contexts. Journal of management development, 20(1), 55-68. Hales, C,. (1999). Why do Managers Do What They Do? Reconciling Evidence and Theory in Accounts of Managerial Work. British Journal of Management, 10, 335–350 Lachman, R,. (1985). Public and Private sector differences: CEOS’s Perceptions of their Role Evironments. Academy of Management Journal, 28(3), 671-680. Lamond, D,. (1998). Back to the future: Lessons from the past for a new management era in G. Griffin (Ed.) Management Theory and Practice: Moving to a New Era. MacMillan: Melbourne. 3-14. Lau, A.W., & Pavett, C.M,. (1983). Managerial Work: The Influence of Hierarchical Level and Functional Specialty. Academy of Management Journal, 26(1), 170-177 Peterson, T. (2004). Ongoing legacy of R.L. Katz: an updated typology of management skills, Management Decision. 42(10), 1297-1308. Robbins, S., Bergman, R., Stagg, I. & Coulter, M. (2012), Management, (6th ed.). Frenchs Forest, NSW, Australia: Pearson Education.

10 Ways to Render Sentences More Concise

10 Ways to Render Sentences More Concise 10 Ways to Render Sentences More Concise 10 Ways to Render Sentences More Concise By Mark Nichol This post details various strategies for reducing and simplifying sentences. 1. Sentence Combination Avoid consecutive sentences that end and begin, respectively, with the same word or phrase as occurs here: A common way to track the current state of systems is monitoring performance metrics. Performance metrics show how assets are performing at the transaction level. In such cases, replace the period between them with a comma and delete the second iteration of the word or phrase with which: â€Å"A common way to track the current state of systems is monitoring performance metrics, which show how assets are performing at the transaction level.† 2. Condensing by Subordination When a sentence includes two consecutive verb phrases, consider converting one to a subordinate clause. For example, note how the subject of this sentence is followed by two statements of fact: The renowned tea is a symbol of the city’s gracious hospitality and is often served in a glass to display its jade-green color. The first statement can easily be subsumed into the main clause as a parenthetical phrase: â€Å"The renowned tea, a symbol of the city’s gracious hospitality, is often served in a glass to display its jade-green color.† 3. Integration of Clauses Here, an introductory subordinate clause sets up an unnecessarily wordy sentence: For health care entities with similar classes of customers, they may be able to reduce the overall evaluation effort by applying the portfolio approach. The clause is easily integrated into the main clause by omitting for and treating â€Å"health care entities,† rather than they, as the sentence’s subject: â€Å"Health care entities with similar classes of customers may be able to reduce the overall evaluation effort by applying the portfolio approach.† 4. Denominalization Nominalization is the complication of prose by using nouns when employing the verb form of that noun, or revising the sentence to eliminate the need for a noun, produces more clear, concise prose; nouns, of course, are integral to prose but, especially in the case of formal nouns with such elements as -ation, they can be abused in the service of conveying authority. This sentence is not overly formal, but it is wordier than necessary: Furthermore, companies are taking backups of the production applications and storing them for indefinite periods. Denominalization- literally, â€Å"unnaming†- is simply a fancy way of saying â€Å"rephrasing to eliminate nouns.† Note that in this sentence, the noun backups can be converted to a verb, rendering the verb taking superfluous, and the final phrase can be condensed by transforming the adjective indefinite into an adverb, which enables deletion of the noun periods: â€Å"Furthermore, companies are backing up the production applications and storing them indefinitely.† The following sentence is an example of a statement with a double-decker nominalization: Management may find it beneficial to engage in a dialogue on a periodic basis regarding the organization’s policy. As in the previous example, one word easily replaces a phrase- â€Å"on a periodic basis† can be reduced to periodically: â€Å"Management may find it beneficial to periodically engage in a dialogue regarding the organization’s policy.† But further reduction is achieved by replacing the phrase â€Å"engage in a dialogue† with a synonymous word: â€Å"Management may find it beneficial to periodically discuss the organization’s policy.† 5. Employing Terms Rather Than Definitions One strategy to achieve conciseness is to avoid describing something by defining it; note the explanation in the following sentence: He was prone to making embarrassing mistakes in public. Here, the persons behavior can be described with a term that embodies the definition: â€Å"He was prone to committing faux pas.† 6. Deletion of Expletives The expletives â€Å"there is† and â€Å"there are† are poor substitutes for a strong subject; note how the following sentence gets off to a weak start: There are few, if any, finance and accounting departments that are not experiencing some form of extreme change. Expletives need not be excised in every case, but minimize their use by deleting such phrases in favor of the definite noun or noun phrase that follows (and delete the associated that that appears later in the sentence): â€Å"Few, if any, finance and accounting departments are not experiencing some form of extreme change.† 7. Avoiding Tautology Tautology is redundancy or repetition, such as shown here: Could you repeat that again? To repeat is to do something again, so this sentence is equivalent to â€Å"Could you say that again again?† Indicate the action one way or another: â€Å"Could you say that again?† or, more concisely, â€Å"Could you repeat that?† 8. Using Brief Modifiers When modifying a noun to provide more information about it, use a preceding adjective or phrasal adjective rather than an extended phrase following the noun. The following sentence demonstrates use of a verbose modifying phrase: She offered an explanation that was brief and to the point. This sentence can be tightened up by locating the description of the explanation before the noun: â€Å"She offered a brief, to-the-point explanation.† 9. Excising Single Words Sometimes, reducing a sentence by just one word improves it, as shown in the following examples: Rather than assessing all of the contracts, select a representative sample to assess. In the phrase â€Å"all of,† of is generally superfluous: â€Å"Rather than assessing all the contracts, select a representative sample to assess.† How is technology helping to change the way elderly people are cared for? In the phrase â€Å"helping to,† to is extraneous: How is technology helping change the way elderly people are cared for? That is the most annoying error I have ever seen, and also the most prevalent. Also, when it immediately follows and, is redundant: That is the most annoying error I have ever seen, and the most prevalent. 10. Avoiding Prolixity Refrain from florid, verbose descriptions. The following sentence is an extreme example of self-indulgent wordiness, but unless one is deliberately prolix in the service of humor, be vigilant about reining in excessively ornate prose: One might with the utmost confidence essay to prevail in a debate in which one asserts that possessing one’s own means of vehicular conveyance offers one greater flexibility than public transportation provides in the matter of travel to one’s place of learning or employment or to social occasions. Pare such overly complicated composition: â€Å"It’s easy to win an argument that having one’s own car makes it easier to get to school or work or to meet friends than if one uses public transportation.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:The Royal Order of Adjectives Disappointed + PrepositionCareful with Words Used as Noun and Verb

Oxbow Lakes - Information and Examples

Oxbow Lakes s Rivers flow across wide, river valleys and snake across flat plains, creating curves called meanders. When a river carves itself a new channel, some of these meanders get cut off, thus creating oxbow lakes that remain unconnected but adjacent to their parent river. How Does a River Make a Loop? Interestingly, once a river begins to curve, the stream begins to move more rapidly on the outside of the curve and more slowly on the inside of the curve. This then causes the water to cut and erode the outside of the curve and deposit the sediment on the inside of the curve. As the erosion and deposition continue, the curve becomes larger and more circular. The outer bank of the river where erosion takes place is known as the concave bank.   The name for the bank of the river on the inside of the curve, where sediment deposition takes place, is called the convex bank. Cutting off the Loop Eventually, the loop of the meander reaches a diameter of approximately five times the width of the stream and the river begins to cut the loop off by eroding the neck of the loop. Eventually, the river breaks through at a cutoff and forms a new, more efficient path. Sediment is then deposited on the loop side of the stream, cutting off the loop from the stream entirely. This results in a horseshoe-shaped lake that looks exactly like an abandoned river meander. Such lakes are called oxbow lakes because they look like the bow part of the yoke formerly used with teams of oxen. An Oxbow Lake Is Formed Oxbow lakes are still lakes, generally, no water flows in or out of oxbow lakes. They rely on local rainfall and, over time, can turn into swamps. Often, they ultimately evaporate in just a few years after having been cut off from the main river.   In Australia, oxbow lakes are called billabongs. Other names for oxbow lakes include  horseshoe lake, a loop lake, or cutoff lake.   The Meandering Mississippi River The Mississippi River is an excellent example of a meandering river that curves and winds as it flows across the Midwest United States toward the Gulf of Mexico. Take a look at a Google Map of Eagle Lake on the Mississippi-Louisiana border. It was once part of the Mississippi River and was known as Eagle Bend. Eventually, Eagle Bend became Eagle Lake when the oxbow lake was formed. Notice that the border between the two states used to follow the curve of the meander. Once the oxbow lake was formed, the meander in the state line was no longer needed; however, it remains as it was originally created, only now there is a piece of Louisiana on the east side of the Mississippi River. The length of the Mississippi River is actually shorter now than in the early nineteenth century because the U.S. government created their own cutoffs and oxbow lakes in order to improve navigation along the river. Carter Lake, Iowa Theres an interesting meander and oxbow lake situation for the city of Carter Lake, Iowa. This Google Map shows how the city of Carter Lake was cut off from the rest of Iowa when the channel of the Missouri River formed a new channel during a flood in March 1877, creating Carter Lake. Thus, the city of Carter Lake became the only city in Iowa west of the Missouri River. The case of Carter Lake made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court in the case Nebraska v. Iowa, 143 U.S. 359. The court ruled  in 1892 that while state boundaries along a river should generally follow the natural gradual changes of the river when a river makes an abrupt change, the original border remains.

Should the House of Lords be Abolished Assignment

Should the House of Lords be Abolished - Assignment Example According to the research findings, it can, therefore, be said that modern democracy asserts the popular representation of values in government through elected officials as a structural characteristic. Most British people, on this basis, oppose the House of Lords as a political institution because of the power is given to royalty and hereditary legacy within the body itself. As an Angus Reid poll in 2010 showed: â€Å"In the online survey of a representative sample of 2,004 adults, three-in-ten respondents (30%) believe the UK does not need a House of Lords and want all legislation to be reviewed and authorized by the House of Commons. Two-in-five Britons (40%) think the UK needs a House of Lords, but want the people to be allowed to take part in the process to choose lords. Only nine percent of respondents think the current guidelines that call for appointed lords should not be modified. Two-thirds of respondents (66%) support holding a nationwide referendum to decide the future of the House of Lords. A clear majority of Britons (58%) supports the notion of allowing the people to directly elect their lords. Conversely, only three-in-ten (30%) are in favor of abolishing the House of Lords altogether.† Thus, the British people are calling for reforms in which politicians and not royals would be elected to the House of Lords in a manner similar to the way the U.S. Senate functions in American democracy, including elections, term limits, and â€Å"checks & balances† between the upper & lower Houses of Parliament, rather than the total abolishment of the House of Lords. The House of Lords in fundamentally undemocratic, having been instituted as a means to limit the expression of the people’s will politically when it comes into conflict with the interests of the royals in society.  

Analysis Activities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Analysis Activities - Essay Example Each step is important in analysis to ensure the validity of data. Without qualitative data, analysis can be skewed. It is imperative to understand that data produces results that can be transferred in raw info. In any manner, each step should be carefully analyzed because it holds significance and raw weight to Qualitative measures. Standardization and normalization of data is truly essential for quality data. Standardization of each approach falls under best business practices. These practices allow the accumulation of best practices that are vital towards harnessing growth. This information and analysis leads to more conclusive evidence of the process itself. For instance, if the executing stage fails to fall under the scope, then it is evident for leadership to interfere and rectify that issue. Yes, it is clear that findings should be fully documented and audited for compliance. As a matter of fact, the art of auditing is one of the most pivotal elements in the field of accounting and dictates the criteria of embedding controls in an organization. The nature of auditing might seem trivial, but actually contains intricate details that an accountant must embrace. With these ever-growing challenges, the governing bodies that define auditing principles so have become stringent in their regulation. The IRS, SEC, and AICPA all have collaborated within each other to create standards that can serve as a backbone for an alignment of best business practices, which is why documentation becomes a necessity. Signoffs are essential for leadership to understand what is at stake. The executive management must make important decisions in revenue and sales that can impact bottom-line performance. For instance, many financial discrepancies can be a huge factor. Often times in a project, expectations are not met that are defined in scope and the WBS. Thus, creating contingency strategies is pivotal