Reflection of learning experiences in elmentary ,middle ,high school, Essay

Reflection of learning experiences in elmentary ,middle ,high school, and college attended - Essay Example At first, it was unbearable for me but with time, I adjusted to the strange and dynamic environment. The most memorable moments in elementary school involve the use of cubes. The teacher distributed cubes to all the students to perform simple routines. To me this was an amazing phenomenon although by then it was it was very complex. This was meant to develop the cognitive aspect. However, accomplishing the task was more important at that very moment rather than understanding psychological development and the learning concepts. In addition to that, we had the opportunity to go to the playground. We played different games and sung happily, as we waited for the delicious food that I have not forgotten the smell even today. I am very sure that it was during these times that the aspect of individuality was implanted into me because I would interact freely with others and learned to say no or yes. My social aspect of life was also developed at this point in time. The world of science became so real to me. I enjoyed and envied the much that my science teacher new. They would just teach chemistry and physics without necessarily referring to their books. I thought I was not smart and that my teachers were geniuses, but I letter on came to learn that experience was their main weapon. The next level was so adventurous that I realized I was lying to myself when I thought I would make the best doctor in the world. It was at this point that learning took another dimension and I realized my potentials not as a doctor but as a Lawyer. I was greatly inspired by the way, the teachers were narrating events that happened many years ago with exact dates, gave me the desire to make the best barrister in the world. During the debates, I would make sure I argue my point as a lawyer. The outside learning events were so fascinating that I wished at one point that such period should be

The quantitative analysis of Affordable Care Act Essay

The quantitative analysis of Affordable Care Act - Essay Example The policy denies the rich their rightful earnings from the work that they do through the high taxes levied against them, and as such discouraging them from working hard. They earn less when they work for more hours, whilst the low-income earners earn more when they work for less hours. This creates an economic state of reservation, whereby people feel reluctant, especially the low-income earners, from working hard and improving their social setting for fear of upgrading into a higher taxation level (Akosa, Asako and Kosali 45). Nevertheless, it is imperative to note that the Health care policy brought about the much-needed reforms into the heath care policy. The ObamaCare Act dubbed after president Obama, or the Patient protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) promotes social justice and equality by ensuring the low incomes earners who cannot afford insurance policies have the capacity to access them, and as such have access to a higher quality health insurance. The act provides regulations that govern the insurance market, thereby mandating the purchase of insurance. This creates a state of social equality in the health insurance market. Unlike before where these insurance firms preferred the rich and healthy as their most viable and valuable customers, and as such, shunned the low income earners and those with a sickness history, the act compels them to sell their insurance to the low-income earners as well, which promotes social care and affordability of health insurance (Dye 82). The best theory to use in analyzing this Affordable Care Act is the Theory of Marginal Utility, which is the additional increment to utility obtained through the consumption of an additional unit of good, or service. The marginal utility of the two income brackets in the United States subjected to this policy is very different. For instance, the Marginal Utility for the rich people is much lower than

Why do different theories of the firm exist Essay

Why do different theories of the firm exist - Essay Example This paper examines a couple of firm theories with the objective of examining their fine and major points and in an attempt to discover what factors have prompted existence and development of multiple theories of the firm. This is achieved through a literature review that incorporates a wide ranging discussion on the main issues as outlined above. In addition, this paper extends the literature review in an attempt to find empirical basis for the existence of the multiple theories of the firm. In order to do this, the paper examines the literature studies that examine such secondary data evidence either cross sectional or case study based. There is a wide body of research that deals with the issue of firms and theories of firms both in the realms of economics and management. Sagi & Pataki (2006) give out the classical economic firm theory in following words, "Classical firm theories in modeling offer strategies start from profit maximization revenue, i.e. P>MR=MC".However, these authors discredit the relevance and universal applicability of this model and went on to explain the further developments in the firm models that increasingly took into account more variables ,essentially focusing on firm behaviours as an economic decision maker. ... rs discredit the relevance and universal applicability of this model and went on to explain the further developments in the firm models that increasingly took into account more variables ,essentially focusing on firm behaviours as an economic decision maker. However, this paper has emphasis on examination of firm theories that lean more towards more elaborate and comprehensive models that are more management oriented in the sense of having a strategic management bias. The advantage of doing this is evident in that such models reveal more of the strategic management processes that reveal the cross section of today's large sized, globalized and information technology assisted business organizations, one such model is the Resource based model of the firm behaviour. Citing appropriate literature resources Kotelnikov (2007) explains the concept of the resource based model of firm behaviour in following words, "The currently dominant view of business strategy - resource-based theory or resource-based view (RBV) of firms - is based on the concept of economic rent and the view of the company as a collection of capabilities. This view of strategy has a coherence and integrative role that places it well ahead of other mechanisms of strategic decision making. (Kay John)". Using more literature resources Kotelnikov further explains the model as follows, "Each organization is a collection of unique resources and capabilities that provides the basis for its strategy and the primary source of its returns. In the 21st-century hyper-competitive landscape, a firm is a collection of evolving capabilities that is managed dynamically in pursuit of above-average returns (Markides C.C). Thus, differences in firm's performances across time are driven primarily by their unique resources

Central Park New York City Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Central Park New York City - Essay Example The people of New York started airing their voices on the need of a recreational and a public park. It took the emphasis by a poet and an editor of Evening Post (now the New York post), William Cullen Bryant and an early architect by the name Andrew Jackson Downing. The two followed in demanding how important people of New York needed a public park by 1844. They felt the people of New York needed a lavish scenery similar to Bois de Boulogne in Paris France or Hyde Park based in London, England. It took long years of debate and disagreements about the location on where the park was to be erected before the actual building of the park finally started in 1857. The park’s superintendent Fredrick Law Olmsted and an architect Calvert Vaux won the competition on design to enable them with the expansion of the park under a plan called Greensward Plan. The park’s construction followed the same year and went on through up to the civil war in America until its completion in 1873. The Greensward Plan consisted of designs with 36 bridges, all of which Vaux designed, from a span of the Manhattan schist or granite and an iron cast which is lacy neo-gothic. A number of individuals assumed the responsibility of executing the plan these were, Jacob Wrey Mould an architect, Ignaz Anton Pilat a master gardener, George Waring an engineer and Andrew Hasell Green a politician, mandated with the responsibility of helping Vaux and Olmsted. After winning the contest, they went ahead and acquired the 843 acres of land in the city of New York at the Manhattan center, which is two and a half miles away from 59th and 106th street, and half a mile away from Fifth and Eighth Avenue. This led to the eviction of about 1600 people living in the swampy and rocky terrain as the legal inhabitants of the area. Other buildings brought down included a convent, a school, plants, shrubs, and the people residing in Seneca Village. Mostly African-Americans with an estimated 2700 million peop le in the village inhabited the area with three churches and a school. The members of this village became scattered all over the place and as a result, it led to their community became extinct in that area. The city compensated the people who owned land with an estimated average of $700 per lot of land. However, many of the people residing in the area found the compensation package to be below the property value they surrendered. The city planners chose the place because, of its unsuitable terrain that could not withstand nor allow the erection of commercial buildings. The terrain was rocky with swamps that to be turned into lakes, rivers and a reservoir for the old city. The ancient sculptures underwent improvement, enhancement and eradication to enable the creation of the park in accordance to the style of public grounds in Europe, and an appealing appearance of the countryside nature. To this extent, the planners Olmsted and Vaux came up with a plan, which included four transvers e roads, which enabled the carrying of town traffic below the level of the park. The architectural designs restrictions stated that, they were to be minimal. Only four buildings was the only one found in the original plan of the park. They proceeded to adhere to the plan of the park by choosing the materials used for building and made sure that the integration of the original plan was as

Manage Projects Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Manage Projects - Essay Example Procurement management plan was designed to define the process and requirements for the project and a closeout report is presented here. This plan united the scope of the project with the risks associated with procurement. The plan elaborated the process from procurement planning to procurement closeout. From the first step of documentation to the contract closeout, procurement management takes into account all the risks that may occur in the process. The damage of these risks was not enormous however; procurement management deals with these risks beforehand and protects the organization from loss. The procurement process runs smoothly as all the precautionary steps were taken. There was no risk of understatement or overstatement of goods which protected the project from bearing high cost. This project was chosen because the organization needed high quality shrubs, tires and bricks and company’s capacity isn’t enough to produce such items inside the company. The project remained well under the limit of $575,000 with $5000 to spare and they were spent on taking care of buyer’s claims. Project finished before the planned deadline. Out of the identified risks, delayed delivery affected the schedule of the project by two days but it was covered up due to manager’s efficiency. Financial forecasts were very accurate as the whole project was accomplished within the monitory limitations. Management was present and available for supervision. All major management was performed by the procurement project manager but senior management was available for support and necessary tasks; approval for solicitation etc. Finances were also managed adequately. Approval from CFO was taken before planning the whole procurement. Project team worked effectively and efficiently with the stakeholders. Hierarchy was designed specifically for the whole procurement process. The project manager was responsible for the success

Investment Strategies Order Number Essay Example for Free

Investment Strategies Order Number Essay There are many methods an investor can use to determine if a stock is a good buy or not. Three indicators often used to assess the risk of a security are beta, alpha and the Sharpe ratio. One of the most popular measures of risk associated with a security is its beta. Beta is a measure of a stock’s volatility in relation to the market as a whole. The market is given a beta of 1. 0 and individual stocks are ranked according to how much they deviate from the market’s beta. Stocks with a beta of less than 1. 0 are considered less volatile than the market and, therefore, pose less risk. Stocks that have betas higher than 1. 0 are considered more volatile than the market and, therefore, pose more risk. All things being equal, an investor would expect to see higher returns on a stock with a beta higher than the market than one with a beta lower than the market. (1) Beta is also a key component for the capital asset pricing model (CAPM). The original CAPM defined risk in terms of volatility, as measured by a stock’s beta coefficient. The formula is: Kc = Rf + beta Km – Rf) where Kc is the risk-adjusted discount rate (also known as the cost of capital) Rf is the rate of a â€Å"risk free† investment, i. e. ten-year treasury bill Km is the return rate of a market benchmark, such as the SP 500 Kc is the expected rate of return you would require before you would be interested in a particular stock at a particular price. The CAPM expresses the amount of risk a particular stock has and gives an investor an idea of the expected returns he should expect given a certain level of risk. The more risky a stock is the higher the level of returns an investor would expect for that particular stock. (2) A stock’s alpha is a mathematical estimate of the amount of return expected from a stock’s inherent values, such as the rate of growth of in earnings per share, management strengths or other factors, as opposed to general market conditions. Stocks with an alpha greater than 1. 0 can be expected to outperform the market regardless of what happens to the market as a whole. (3) The Sharpe ratio helps investors determine the best possible proportion of securities to use in a portfolio that can also include cash. The formula for the Sharpe ratio is: S(x) = (Rx – Rf) / StdDev(x) where x is some investment Rx is the average annual rate of return of x Rf is the best possible rate of return of a â€Å"risk free† security (i. e. cash) StdDev is the standard deviation of Rx The Sharpe ratio is a direct measure of reward-to-risk. In other words, the Sharpe ratio is used to characterize how well the return of an asset compensates the investor for the risk taken. (4) Although beta, alpha and the Sharpe ratio are useful for an investor to gauge the risk of a security or portfolio of securities there are also other methods an investor can use to determine whether a security is a good investment or not. The two most common methods used to determine the investment potential of a security are fundamental analysis and technical analysis. Fundamental analysis is the process of looking at a business from its financial statements. This type of analysis typically looks at various ratios of the business to determine its financial health. The goal of fundamental analysis is determine the current worth of a stock and how the market values the stock. (5) Probably the most two important factors looked at in fundamental analysis are a company’s earnings and revenue growth. Investors like to see earnings and revenue increasing by at least 25% for each of the last three quarters and year-to-date. Return on equity (ROE) is also a major fundamental factor. ROE reveals how much profit a company earned in comparison to the total amount of shareholder equity found on the balance sheet. (6) The higher a company’s ROE compared to its industry the better. Investors typically look for an ROE of at least 17%. Technical analysis is a method of evaluating stocks by relying on the assumption that market data, such as charts of price, volume and open interest can help predict future market trends. (7) Investors using technical analysis typically look for trends in chart data and use a variety of technical indicators, such as moving averages, Bollinger bands, fast and slow stochastics, MACD, and RSI to determine the right buy point for a stock. More sophisticated investors use a combination of fundamental analysis and technical analysis to determine whether a stock is a good buy or not. They use fundamental analysis to make sure a company is healthy from a financial standpoint and is a leader in its industry. Once determining a stock is healthy from a fundamental standpoint, these investors will use technical analysis to determine the correct buy point for a stock. A stock’s chart will show the investor how the stock is actually performing in the market and whether it is rising out of a good base or is overbought based on how far its current price is from its 50 day moving average. If a stock’s price is 30% or more above its 50 day moving average, the risk that it will fall into a correction is greater. References: (1) http://www. investopedia. com/articles/stocks/04/113004. asp Beta: Know the Risk (2) http://www. moneychimp. com/articles/valuation/capm. htm CAPM Calculator (3) http://www. allbusiness. com/glossaries/alpha/4943389-1. html Business Definition for Alpha (4) http://www. moneychimp. com/articles/risk/sharpe_ratio. htm The Sharpe Ratio (5) http://stocks. about. com/od/evaluatingstocks/a/Fundanatools1. htm Tools of Fundamental Analysis (6) http://beginnersinvest. about. com/cs/investinglessons/l/blreturnequity. htm Return on Equity (ROE) (7) http://www. investorwords. com/4925/technical_analysis. html Technical Analysis

The cult of Stalin Essay Example for Free

The cult of Stalin Essay Is there sufficient evidence in sources A to F to explain why there was an anti-war movement in the US during the late 1960s and early 1970s? The anti-war movement in the US during the late sixties and early seventies was a number of independent interests that had allied together, because of their common interest of being against the war in Vietnam. The types of people who protested varied greatly, such as people at college campuses, middle-class suburbs, labour unions, and government institutions, there were many different types of protest and many different reasons for people from all racial and cultural backgrounds protesting. Draft Burning was one important type of protest; this was done by thousands of conscript able men in the United States, to show to the American government that they werent going to go war in Vietnam. A Draft was the document that told Americans they had been conscripted to go and fight, many thousands of Americans would burn these in the streets as a protest to the Government against the war. There were hundreds street protests throughout the war by Americans from all walks of life, despite racial tensions blacks and whites and people from different classes banded together to show the authority what Americans really felt towards the war. There were also thousands of letters, phone calls and confrontations with the American Government to persuade them to stop the war. Many of the independent groups had their own reasons for disagreeing with the war in Vietnam, and so there is great depth to why an anti-war movement on such a scale began. One of the main reasons is the role of the media during the Vietnam War. Most homes in the sixties owned televisions and some even colour televisions, so the war could be seen by nearly all Americans daily. There were no restrictions on the media during Vietnam as there are today so shocking images and newsreel could be sent back home for Americans to see. Americans saw devastating images of dead Vietnamese, dead and injured American G. I. s, refugees, injured civilians etc. For example the My Lai Massacre on the 16th March 1968 horrified the world as people found that the Americans were the cause of a 350-500 casualty massacre of unarmed Vietnamese civilians. Adam Whybro The war was proving to be a heavy drain on manpower and casualties were starting to mount up. 562 men were killed in just one week during May 68 to add to the mounting casualties of thousands. The United States needed 33000 conscripts by 1965 to replace the dead and those who had finished their tour of duty. This generated a lot of opposition from men who did not want to fight resulting in the many draft burning protests that took place. Drafting caused large amounts of resentment between the social classes as white middle class men could easily be cleared, whilst ethnic minorities were drafted. The poor morale of American troops and of veterans fueled the anti-war movement leading to two big protests in Washington in 1967 and 1971 and a record amount of desertions, some 503,000 in 1966 alone. The American tactics being used and Guerrilla warfare lowered both American troops morale and that of Americans back home. The use of Napalm alone was strongly opposed and added to the destruction of rainforests and spraying of chemicals caused massive opposition to the tactics being used to win the war. Americans thought the war, which at the time was costing them $20 billion year, was weakening an already fragile and weak economy, and at the time the President Lynden Johnson had promised that he was going invigorate the economy and make it stronger. Johnson had also promised better health care, better housing, a better transport system and reducing the social divisions between Americans. The war took valuable funding and resources from these projects, resulting in more people showing their opposition to the war. The Black Civil Rights protests greatly backed up the anti-war movement, as they believed that mostly ethnic minorities were being drafted into the armed forces. Some of the higher officers were racially abusing some of the black soldiers, which caused lots of resentment between black and white soldiers in the American army. The black civil rights movement acted alongside the anti-war movement rather than being a direct consequence of the war, whereas the other reasons to why there was an anti-war movement are direct courses of the war, because they only came about during the Vietnam War. The sources A-F, do not explain all the reasons to why there was and anti-war movement, but they do help us to understand a few of the reasons why such a strong anti-war movement took place during the Vietnam Conflict. There was an anti-war movement due to the unrestricted role of the media which showed many disturbing pictures of the Vietnam Conflict, including both dead and dieing civilians and soldiers, horrific injuries such as napalm burns and destroying buildings. Sources B, C and E help us to understand the role of the media during the conflict. Source B is a famous photograph that shows children running followed by American soldiers and imparticular a naked girl running and screaming with severe, distressing napalm burns. This is a very distressing picture, which received extensive media coverage. This picture changed many peoples views on the war, mainly to anti-war, but what the image doesnt show us is that the US gave her medical treatment which she recovered from, and she is still alive today. The image does show the public how bad the war was though and the ineffectiveness of American tactics and the lack of care shown by the American military not to hit civilians. Adam Whybro In Source C the writer, Richard Hamer, tells us about a scenario where a US patrol is attacked by a mortar on a road between paddy fields containing Vietnamese civilians. Hamer describes the decision that many American soldiers must have faced when in Vietnam, whether the civilians attacked the patrol and whether to kill all of them or none of them. He gives the readers an insight into what it must be like to be an American soldier in Vietnam to everyone back in America. This shows how bad being a soldier was and to parents or close ones back in America of soldiers would have made them want the war to stop and to bring their sons home, heightening the anti-war movement. Hamer goes on to give the horrific details of the tactics used by the US during the war. He does not however inform us of the types of horrific tactics that the Vietcong Guerillas used, such as the horrific booby traps they set for American patrols, which is biased against the war. The American tactics were dammed by much of the world as they were deemed as harsh; this was brought about by the media. The Americans used chemicals to destroy rainforests around the Ho Chi Minh trail and villages like Napalm and Agent Orange, which still has an effect on the Vietnam life today! Each new generation still suffers from the chemicals used in the military campaigns by the Americans during Vietnam. Source E is an oral statement by Robin Day a BBC commentator who says that TV has changed American views on war more than anything else, to be more anti-war and anti-militarist. Day says now people all over the world can watch conflicts on television, whether in the future a democracy which has uninhibited television coverage in every home will ever be able to fight a war again, as the full brutality of war will be there in close-up and in colour. Day also says, Blood looks very red on the colour television screen. This source does not tell us anything about the war itself, or about the anti-war movement in America, but just how technology such as colour TVs have changed the war, and the views of the war by ordinary people. Source A is a written source from the book Four Hours in My Lai by Michael Bilton which attempts to explain why the United States suffered such high casualties throughout the war. Most soldiers were more likely to die in the first few months of their tour of duty than at any other point, because the soldiers were inexperienced and usually did not get on well with the platoons they were put into, which lowered morale. A lot of the new recruits were quite stupid, because of the need for replacement troops; the army overlooked the poor I. Q. scores of many men when they were conscripted. A lot of the new conscripts werent that clever as the men available for conscription in Universities could get out of it with studying by studying a degree. This source doesnt explain the anti-war movement; it just helps us to understand the effects of the tour of duty and the high casualty rate. The source is biased however as not everybody in the army scored a poor I. Q. and died within the first months of the year. In the late 60s early 70s President Lynden Johnson promised the American people he would make the American economy stronger. He said he was going to make a Great Society and he had a vision to feed and shelter the homeless to provide more education and better medical care. This didnt occur on as large a scale as was planned Adam Whybro as consequence of the Vietnam War, which upset a lot of lower class people. Source D is a cartoon published in the British magazine Punch in 1967, which represents the American economy at the time. The US economy is represented as a steam locomotive, and in the smoke coming from the funnel of the train it says Vietnam, as well as the cartoon indicating that Vietnam is destroying the US economy and all the resources are going to waste, it also represents due to the carriages being broken up which read Great Society to fuel the train, that the dream of the Great Society will never happen as the resources that were meant for it are being used to fuel the US economy for the war in Vietnam. The cartoon shows a lot of angry people, which represents some of the American people at the time, who must have thought President Johnson was lying to them and that services wouldnt get better. What the cartoon represents would have angered many Americans, especially the lower classes resulting in them supporting the anti-war movements, as they wanted funding putting back into improving their quality of life as had been promised. The cartoon does not show however how the war in Vietnam provided millions of jobs in arms factories and in the armed forces etc.to low paid or the unemployed which did boost the economy and reduce unemployment. The book We Were Soldiers Once and Young by Hal Moore and Joseph Galloway gives a good indication of the tactics used by the American military early in the Vietnam War. It gives an eye witness account of the helicopters tactics used, the air support, and the napalm attacks used by the American military. It also highlights why the Americans casualty lists were so high, as before Hal Moore went into battle in the Ia Drang Valley some of his trained men were taken away as their tour of duty had finished. During the battle a reporter takes pictures of the horrors of the battle, and at the end of the battle a helicopter full of reporters arrives to take pictures and interviews etc. The source gives a real life example of sources A and C which both contributed to the anti-war movement. The source is slightly biased as it was written by two Americans who were there and could have therefore changed slight details to put the Americans in a better light. Although the Sources do tell us a lot about the why the anti-war movement began they do not tell us everything. They do not tell us about the black civil rights movement which was happening at the time which acted along side the anti-war protests, because they thought that a lot of black people were being discriminated in the army and Johnsons promise which would have benefited many black Americans. The Sources do not tell us about the numerous student protests, especially the Kent-State-Protest in May 1970 where 4 students were killed by the national guard causing the start of 400 more protests. The sources dont highlight the number of cultural changes during the war, which sparked up. Many blacks werent granted places in universities and so it was harder for them to escape conscription. Therefore in 1967, 30 percent of black men who were the right age for the conscription were conscripted, whereas only 19 percent of whites were. There were many black protests and questions towards the government from black people included comments like why should we fight a war that we dont believe in? and why are we fighting for a country that refuses to give us basic human rights? Black opponents of the war were quick to point out that the Vietcong never called us nigger! Also in 1967, Martin Luther King, the best known of black civil rights campaigners, Adam Whybro spoke out against the war. A year later, King was assassinated by a white opponent of civil rights and there were hundreds of race riots all over the country. The sources are quite sufficient but they do not cover all explanations to why there was an anti-war movement in the US during the late 1960s and early 1970s. The best sources in my view are the picture of the Napalm Girl and source C, as both these two sources show us the violent tactics the American armed forces used in Vietnam and with the disregard for human lives they were used. The two sources persuaded a lot of people to go against the war and join the anti-war movement. I feel it was because both are media items which was the main factor in there being such a large anti-war movement in America.