Politics surrounding Main character V in movie V for Vendetta Essay

Politics surrounding Main character V in movie V for Vendetta - Essay Example He nurtures tactics of surveillance and detection. He can turn deceptive to catch to attack the opponent. The sad experiences that V encounters prepared him, for the fight against the oppressors. He puts on a mask that acts a means of defense against his opponents. There are solemn political issues in the movie that drive the V to undertake his missions. Character V is unsatisfied by the nature of control by the British government in the movie. His reactions, therefore, have their basis on political concerns. The way through which the government leads the people is stressful and initiates opposition from the citizens. Character V is a representative of all the citizens forced to endure the atrocities of the oppressive government. Through his tactics, V fights against the forces promoting the oppression of citizens. The violent strategies applied by V in the movie are not to promote destruction in the country, but the desire to bring change. Political environments are inconsiderate of the rights of the people. The government does not grant the citizens civil liberty, for instance. Several curfews created by the government restrict the free movement of the citizens and deny them the freedom to interact and socialize. Such environment prompts the decision by V to oppose the regime by killing officials who are inconsiderate citizens' rights. There is a notable lack of interest by the public, which allows the government to violate the civil rights of the citizens. V calls on the society members to rise against to condemn the political actions in the society. The oppressors do not recognize the privacy of the citizens and undertake surveillance over their conducts without their awareness. According to V, the government does not administer freedom and liberty according to its officials claims. The nation is poor, and the citizens are suffering. All the plight of the citizens, according to V, result from failure by the government to protect its citizens. The control of the government is brutal, a condition that V would never tolerate as a condition in the country. In his opinion, there is a need for citizens to have a collective resistance against the government and oppose the oppression. The attacks by V and destructions are to sensitize the people to gain courage and advocate for their rights. V intends to have the citizens to launch full support for his actions that oppose the oppressive regime of the government. In V’s view, the continued idleness that the citizens have in addressing the various inhuman conducts of the government is a reason for their prevalence. That should the citizens continue with the reluctance to address the issue, the government is most likely to continue oppressing the citizens. There are scenes of torture that depict the extent of disregard for human rights by the government. Some of the tortures conducted result from political motives. The viewers get an insight of how unwillingness to advocate for change in the society can affect the government’s operations and create an oppressive regime. The government can disregard any right of the citizens when not under serious opposition from the citizens. Citizens, therefore, would continue to suffer. Citizens must have a unitary cooperation that can express their feelings about the government’s ways of conducting normal business. It condemns apathy of the citizens

William Shakespeare’s Hamlet Essay Example for Free

William Shakespeare’s Hamlet Essay The tone of William Shakespeares Hamlet is set by the theme of madness and deception. The death of Hamlets father and the appearance of his ghost to his son sets into motion a series of events that end in leads to the near total destruction of the Danish court. No one proves to be safe from the pervasive nature of their own guilt, real or imagine, as the characters fall victim to Hamlets madness and the kings deception. Revenge and fear, in particular, play central roles in the eventual conclusions of the play, as it provides a vehicle for the concepts of madness and deceit, as well as the bloody and darkening shadow that falls upon Denmark itself. Even before he sees his fathers ghost among the castle walls, the seeds of suspicion and disgust have already grown to fruition within Hamlets mind. All that is needed to touch off this dark depression into full-blown action is a spark. This spark comes in the form of the deceased king, who gives voice to his sons suspicions. Its interesting, given the full blown form that Hamlets madness later takes, to consider that the conversation between father and ghost may have been a delusion. Though its hard to write off the apparition itself as false, since it is the guards who first see the ghost walking silently, the conversation between father and son is private and serves to provide justification for Hamlets later actions. In this way, its possible that this conversation was simply the beginning point for Hamlets growing insanity. From this first act, the other events fall in quick succession as though predicted. Death becomes a central almost fated result of the lethal mixture of Hamlets growing insanity and the guilt of the king There is a fine line between Hamlets realities and his delusions, as shown in the truth of his uncles deceit. Its important that the tragedy of Hamlet begins and ends with death, providing a full-circle to the Kings murder of his brother and Hamlets own revenue and death. This is due in part to the larger significance of death both as an ending and a beginning. The tragedy of Hamlet itself begins and ends with death while the dead themselves provide witnesses. Its important to note that even as the death should be released by the chain of events, they are not allowed to truly rest. From Hamlets father the king, to Ophelias drowned memory, they are allowed little reprieve. Instead their deaths act as cataclysms for more tragedy and death. It is Ophelia and Poloniuss deaths that cause Laertes to meet his death at the end of Hamlets poison-tipped blade. Connected to the idea of revenge, the dead are fuel to the fire and darkness that seep into the minds and actions of all involved. Given the heavy presence of death, it is no wonder that the images of darkness and the adjective â€Å"black† is repeated throughout the book. It seems to be almost an eternal night in Hamlets Denmark. There is no comfort. There is no hope, only sadness and death. Revenge, madness, and pride are connected in Hamlet through their common dark designs and darker endings. The need for revenge, which is bred from Hamlets encounter with his fathers ghost and eventually drives his madness, is not justice. This revenge is part duty, part self-preservation. Hamlet is lost in his new role in his family, with his mothers marriage to his uncle and the usurpation of the crown from Hamlets own head. In taking action against his uncle, Hamlet is defending the honor of his family and attempting to reclaim his own self which has been lost (I. iv. ll. 21). With the new developments, Denmark itself has become a prison (II. ii. ll. 241), and he is a prisoner to the awareness of his position and the growing need to exact revenge. It is important to make the distinction between the two, revenge and justice. Hamlet is seeking to right the wrong of his fathers death, at first through revelation but then when this fails through violence. There is not the sense that Hamlet expects to escape his own death in the process of exacting revenge but at the same time there is the maddened sense of invincibility about him. He hopes to regain part of himself in destroying his uncle, however, he is already lost to his own fear and insanity. The concept of blood is important throughout the play, both in literal form in showing the brutality of Hamlets actions, and as representative of family. The physical presnece of blood is seen throughout the play in the deaths of even those who do end in bloodshed, like Ophelia;. The final scene in Act V is the bloodiest, with the deaths of Laertes and Hamlet, the wounding of the King, and the poisoning of the Queen. That final scene is also a good example of the power of blood, in the family sense, as Hamlet finally gains resolution in the deception of his uncle and his mothers marriage and Laertes himself is able to avenge his sister and father. However, the concept of family goes much farther back in the play, to the very beginning with the first appearance of the dead king, still linked to his son and the tragedy of his blood, who himself is heard by Hamlet to call for revenge. For Hamlet, the concept of blood is perhaps the most sensitive and the core root to his own madness. A chief source of hurt pride for Hamlet is the marriage of his widowed mother to his uncle. In Hamlets eyes, not only has the new king usurped the role of his dead (murdered) brother but he has also taken over his brothers position in the Queens bed. This is not a difficult idea to understand; Hamlet obviously feels a strong loyalty to his father and to the idea of his own succession. However, Hamlets constant condemnation of the King and Queens marriage being â€Å"incestuous† shows more about Hamlet than his mother, who is constantly condemned by her son for the marriage. The king is Hamlets paternal uncle and therefore, unrelated to the Queen except through the marriage of his deceased brother, Hamlets uncle. Therefore there is no real incest going on between the newly married couple but rather a joining of past and present. Instead Hamlet is showing an intolerance to change, that when divorced of his uncles treachery, is not quite as damning. However, true to the form of the play, the marriage has been built upon the dark deeds of the King. Their marriage is a deceptive continuity, the Queen herself innocent to the dark deeds of the King. She is not wholly innocent, as she ignorantly believes in the innocence of the new King. While she obviously loves her son, in sensing and fearing Hamlets growing restlessness and insanity, she does in a manner turn away from him. Seeing only death in her sons countenance, it is understandable that she would ally herself with the calm presence of the new king. However, there is something of a resolution between mother and son. When the queen drinks the poison, the King has prepared for Hamlet, she joins the ranks of the innocent dead. Like Ophelia, the Queen becomes a kind of martyr to the ulterior motives of royal ascendency and the revenge of her only son. Though the King may have had larger ideas of their marriage, the Queens tragedy seems to be a belief in hope. In remarrying she is hoping to continue her life and in Hamlet she sees hope for her love and affection, even as he rejects her. Without the morality of justice, Hamlets revenge fails to provide any resolution. While death is certainly an end and a recurrent theme throughout the play, the persistence and skewed senses of madness prevent the carnage of the Danish court from representing an absolute ending. Instead, there simply seems to be no one else to truly die, no one else to suffer within this narrative of tragedy. Hamlets madness had acted in a way to bring about the complete destruction of all hed ever held dear, it spent not only the resolve of its master but everything which it touched. The court of Denmark is withered but no longer a prison to Hamlet as he can depart in death as he was never able to in life. Though Hamlet finds his revenge and his end, he does not find true peace. Fueled by his own depression and anxiety, the injured pride of a fallen son, Hamlet instead creates a cycle of violence and fear which in the end even he falls prey to.

An Analysis Of The Financial Situation Marketing Essay

An Analysis Of The Financial Situation Marketing Essay Upon the successful completion of ACCAs fundamental level, I met the eligibility criteria of BSc Honours Programme, offered by Oxford Brookes University in partnership with ACCA for ACCA students. I had to select a topic from a vast variety of more than twenty topics to embark upon. After short listing them one by one, I decided to choose Topic 8 The business and financial performance of an organisation over a three year period for my research project. There were several reasons for choosing this particular topic. Apart from my personal interest, I wanted to apply my academic learning into a real world scenario as studying F7, Financial Reporting in the fundamental level of ACCA and P2, Corporate Reporting in the Professional Level, gave me high conceptual grip of financial analysis. It would also prove helpful to me in the future as I have a strong desire to invest into Plcs through the stock exchange once I start my career as an Investment Banker. I wanted to analyze on an organisation that operated in a highly competitive environment so that I would be able to compare its results with a competitor to see the financial and operational performance and the relation to the proposed strategy. This would also help make the report more interesting for the readers. Increasing trend in fashion, new clothing brands being introduced and the rapidly changing style sense of people, brought me to the conclusion to select an organization in the clothing retail industry. After researching on a few of the leading brands in the clothing industry of UK, I decided to analyse the financial performance of Next Plc and to compare it with Marks and Spencers. United Kingdom Clothing Market: In 1992, the United Kingdom clothing market emerged from the recession of the late 1980à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ²s and has continued to benefit from the renaissance of High Street spending throughout the 1990à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ²s. In late 1996, early 1997, the clothing retail industry showed signs of being boosted by the continued growth in personal spending, aided most recently by the payments consumers received from the building society conversion. In order to prevent economic overheating, the United Kingdom government and its major financial institutions were keen to dampen consumer spending. This occurred with the Bank of Englandà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ²s decision to raise interest rates. The introduction of new entrants into the clothing market and their, expansion, growth and diversification of outlets both in the chain and independent sector at all ends of the market i.e high, mid, and low were also important factors in the development of the United Kingdom clothing industry. Furthermore the retailers, revolutionized and thought to introduce new ways to sell their products. One of the popular methods was via the mail-order catalogues. This has now been super seeded by the arrival of television and Internet-based clothing outlets. There are in excess of 25,000 clothes retailing businesses in the United Kingdom, with a combined outlet total of 45,500 outlets. 1.2 Company Profile The Next retail chain was launched in February 1982 and the first store opened with an exclusive coordinated collection of stylish clothes, shoes and accessories for women. Collections for men, children and the home quickly followed. Next clothes are styled by the in-house design team to offer consistency of style, quality and value for money with a contemporary fashion edge. (Next Plc, Business Overview, The Next Brand [online]) Next Plc is a brand name in the United Kingdom clothing market for stylish, trendy men and women between 20 and 40 years of age. Menswear, womenswear, childrenswear and babywear is part ot the expansion into all the sectors of the clothing market under the NEXT brand label. Today Next Plc employees over 30,000 people and operates from more than 500 stores in the UK and Eire and over 170 franchise stores overseas, including Europe, Asia and Middle East. This makes Next Plc, one of the biggest High Street retailers in the United Kingdom. Over the last few years several larger format stores have opened across the UK and, in October 2005, Next opened the anchor store at the Manchester Arndale Centre with a store in excess of 80,000 square feet. Next Plc mainly operates through 5 basic divisions: Next Retail operates the high street shops through more than 330 stores covering the UK and Ireland; Next Directory is the mail order division which also contain the e-commerce platform; Next Overseas operates retail outlets in the United States, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East through franchise agreements; The company also provides home shopping and financial services, that make up the other 2 divisions: Ventura runs the financial services division by providing customer services management to clients wishing to outsource their customer contact administration and fulfilment activities Other activities include telecommunications software services and property management. For the first time in August 1985, Next launched its interiors range of soft furnishings for the home. Following the success of this diversification and the introduction of Next directory and home shopping, later in 1993, Next Plc announced its brand strategy, of One Brand Two Ways of Shopping, bringing together the common ranges across both retail and home shopping formats. 1.3 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE REPORT The primary aim of this report is to evaluate the business and financial performance of Next plc between, the three years ended, from 28th January 2006 to 24th January 2009. The main focus of this report can be summarized into: To understand Next Plcs Business Strategy; and how it has facilitated Next Plc to achieve success. To analyze and present financial information in a manner which will enable to evaluate the overall financial performance of Next Plc from the year-ended 28/01/2006 to 24/01/2009. To analyze the nature of clothing retail industry and the competitive environment in which Next Plc operates, and the affects it had on the company. 1.4 Executive Summary Exciting,beautifully designed,excellent quality clothing and homeware;presented in collections that reflect the aspirations and means of our customers (Annual Report 06) Next Plcs aim is to provide its customers with good quality clothing at a reasonable price. According to Michael Porter, in terms of Porters Generic Strategies this would be more of a stuck in the middle position, as it is competing with the market cost leaders as well as product differentiators. However, the success of Next Plc has shown that it has successfully operated in such a mid-market position and has done very well to implement its strategy. The overall business strategy has been successful. Despite an ongoing programme of expansion over the last few years, the company has continued to increase profits, besides the decline in 2009 due to the unstable economy of United Kingdom. It has been forced to close only four outlets due to poor performance over the past years. The above chart shows a steady increase of 32.3% during the years 2004 to2008. This followed brand-strengthening strategies and a new perspective in overseas development. During the three fiscal years ended, the performance of the group can be summarised as follows; Turnover increased by 7.17% Profit before tax increased by 10.91% Earnings per share incresed by 32.41% Dividends increased by 25% Overall the figures are not much high, but they look promising and have shown a steady improvement over the years except in 2009 when the figures declined steeply. The group has set a target to increase its sales turnover in the years to come and increse its earnings per share, that is one of the most important financial objective. Uncertain economic outlook, rising tax rates and weakinig pound against euro and dollar may act as barriers to this target, but it is highly probable that it will be achieved, by better and efficicient stock, margins, costs, including overhead and administration cost controls. 2 INFORMATION GATHERING 2.1 Sources used and their reasons 2.1.1 Primary Research Primary research is the research in which the researcher collects original data directly about the product, market and organization by whatever means appropriate to answer the research questions i.e it is specificially related to a particular Research Project. It is data that did not exist before. Due to the availability of sufficient information from secondary sources, I felt that there was no need of primary data. Hence, most of my work is based on secondary sources. 2.1.2 Secondary research I used two main sources for the secondary research. Library I went through various books in the College library. I used BPP study text Success in your research and analysis project which gave me an initial outline, approach, and structuring for the project. Studying the Bsc Oxford Brookes Information Pack gave me the essential information on how to go about the project. The study texts published for ACCA examinations provided me with an array of analytical tools to use in achieving the aims of this report. Electronic research I mainly relied on the Internet to formulate this report, as there was vast information available on the internet, needed for this report. The various databases and search engines to collect the information I needed for the report were: Next Plcs website was the most important and authentic source of information. It provided me with the annual reports, company profile, its history and all the other information I needed for this report which includes the audited financial statements aswell. The website also had an archive of company news which gave me a hindsight of the more immediate matters faced by the company. Competitor websites (for the same reasons) Reuters website (http://stocks.us.reuters.com), this provided me with the financial statements of Sainsburys and Tesco for the past five years along with ratios of both companies and the industry averages for the current period. London Stock Exchange website, providing details of historic share performance and relevant industry and competitor news Using internet search engines (Google, and Wikipedia) to gather information related to Next Plcs and the UK clothing retail industry. Other business related databases used to obtain relevant industry and competitor news are: Financial Times (www.ft.com) Accountancy age (www.accountancyage.com) Business Week (www.businessweek.com) BBC (www.bbc.co.uk) 2.2 Methods Used Information gathering is a critical and crutial phase, as the whole of the research is based on the information gathered, so it should be done in an organized and systematic way. Information access has become simpler with extensive details and volume available online and offline therefore a plan has to be made beforehand to be able to extract the relevant and accurate material in order to form a well-structured and organized report, which is easy to understand to the users of the report. Main method I used to collect the information was to use the GOOGLE search engine. By just entering a few key words in the search bar it provided me with the links of numerious different websites, that contained loads of information, which was both relevant and irrelevant for this report,. So I went through all the information and chose the one that was relevant and necesaary to formulate this report. I wanted to have the relevant material in hand before I actually started the report writing process. I started my research way before I actually started to write the report, so as I used to browse different websites, I bookmarked the web pages which had the relevant articles so that I would not have any problems referencing the information if I had chosen to quote it in my report. I printed the Financial Statements of Next Plc that I downloaded from its website and had also imported it into MS Excel to perform the ratio analysis on. 3 ANALYSIS 3.1 PORTERS GENERIC STRATEGIES Next Plcs aim is to concentrate on the design, quality and value of the product, together with excellent customer service and deliver. ( John Barton, Chairman Next Plc, Annual Report 2009) Michael Porter identified three generic strategies (See Appendix A) by which organizations gain competitive advantage. Porter argued that to be successful an organization should select and implement one of the strategies, i.e. either cost-leadership or differentiation. According to Porters viewpoint Next Plc would be a classic stuck in the middle whereby it is trying to compete with the Industry Cost Leaders, Primark etc. as well as the Product Differentiators, House Of Fraser However, the overall success of Next Plc has proved quite the opposite and there exists another viewpoint that a single generic strategy is not always best because within the same product customers often seek multi-dimensional satisfactions such as a combination of quality, style, convenience, and price. Next Plc seeks to provide its customers with fair price products without compromising on their quality and has been successfully operated in such a mid-market position. When interpreted narrowly as referring to the appeal of a product to its target buyers, the proposition that firms should not be stuck in the middle should not be taken to imply that companies must be down-market or up-market, but nothing in-between. Such a view is belied by the evident success of companies such as Next Plc, which earn substantial economic rents in a mid-market position. PIMS (Profit impact of marketing strategy) data and other evidence shows, however, that intermediate positions are indeed profitable and are successfully exploited by many firms. (Michael Cronshaw, Evan Davis and John Kay (1994), pp. 19-33) 3.2 SWOT ANALYSIS Next Plc STRENGTHS Brand Name Niche strategy WEAKNESSES E-Commerce Concentrated market OPPORTUNITIES Expand into EU Marketing Opportunity THREATS Competitor price war Economy Strengths BRAND NAME Next Plc uses its own label Next to sell its products. Customers of Next associate themselves with the Next label. As they use their own brand it is easier for them to react on customers wishes and to adapt them very quickly keeping control over the quality management. NICHE STARTEGY Next Plc adapts a niche strategy and its main target group is between the ages of 20-40. This strategy has worked quite well over the past years and it has emerged as one of the strengths of Next Plc, designing adult fashion wear for the people between 20-40. While some of its competitors have problems to satisfy this segment, NEXT managed it very well in the past, selling their stylish products at reasonable prices. WEAKNESSES E-COMMERCE Although Next Plc introduced its online shopping in 1999 and the entire collection is available to shop from on the internet, but Next Plc does not invest a significant amount on e-commerce as its competitors do. Debenhams for example invest approximately GBP 5m on internet technology while on the other hand Marks Spencer spend around GBP 50m on e-commerce and digital TV. Trend of internet shopping is increasing rapidly; therefore Next Plc should reconsider their IT strategy and invest more into e-commerce to stay in the competition. CONCENTRATED MARKET Next operates in a highly competitive retail clothing market, therefore there is concentration of similar type of clothing manufactures, e.g. Marks Spencer, Arcadia. This can damage Next, if competitors gain the market share or if consumers change their habits and Next does not adapt to these changes quickly. OPPORTUNITIES EXPAND INTO EU More than 90% of the revenue generated by Next Plc is within the UK under the brand names of Next Retail and Next Directory. However there is an opportunity to increase the revenue and sales by expanding its operation into EU countries. Next Plc has already its operations in mainland China, Hong Kong, Romania, Sri Lanka, India, Turkey but if it expands into EU it can diversify the risk of the concentration of UK retail market and the strength of Great Britain Pound over Euro, which currently is not that high due to the recession but in future this can be a good source of income. MARKETING OPPORTUNITY Next plc is already running a groundbreaking mail order operation Next Directory, which was launched in 1988 with a hardback, creating the blueprint for catalogue retailing. It is ranked number one among the High Street names that offer mail order clothing. This is an effective marketing techniques added by Next Directory, i.e. the online shopping service for its targeted age group 20-40 as they have little time to do their shopping. This could be a great opportunity for Next to increase its market share. THREATS COMPETITOR PRICE WAR The UK clothing retail industry is a highly competitive industry. Next Plc has over the past few years managed to compete very well and occasionally offering sale and promotions as well. However if cost-leaders retaliate this, it may have serious consequences as the business strategy of Next Plc is different to the cost-leaders, such as Primark, and it may not be able to compete with them in this area. Also indulging in a price war would mean that the quality of its products may have to be compromised. ECONOMY Due to the recent credit crunch, UK economy generally is facing a downturn. This has affected many industrys including retail. This is one of the main reason for the downfall in the revenue of Next Plc in 2009. The other worrying factor is the weakning of pound, this affects adversly to Next Plc due to its international suppliers. According to the analysts, UK economy will improve in 2010, and bringing back the sales for Next Plc. PEST Analysis Political: A stable and sound political environment is the basis for long-term decisions. The United Kingdom, as a Member State of the European Union, fulfils this prerequisite. The government has to act within a definite political framework to achieve the conditions of the European Union and this guarantees Next Plc a higher scope of economic actions. Another advantage of the European Union is the open transfer of goods. This makes it easier for Next Plc to sell their products in the different European countries. There are no trade barriers that aggravate sales. Economic United Kingdom had a stable economy in the last few years but since 2008, it is experiencing one of the worst recession in the history. This has affected almost all of the businesses in the United Kingdom. Due to this, Pound has become weaker than Euro and Dollar. This can be alarming for Next Plc, as these two are the main purchasing currencies oof the group. Secondly, due to this, foreign investments have become expensive for the group and it may become a hurdle for the group in order to expand overseas. The group now, can not exploit the favourable economic conditions of United Kingdom, when the Pound was exceedingly stong in the past few years where the group expanded its operaions the most. Social: The social structure has changed dramatically over the last few years. People are eager to find more convinent way to shop e.g internet shopping and shopping from home, due to the busy life and lack of time to go and shop from the retail stores. Nexts target customers are in the range of 20 to 40. People in this age group are much busier than rest and prefer to shop online, due to their interest in technology. In order to retain this customer age group, Next Plc must need to understand the needs of people and respond immediately. This will also result in customer satisfaction and an increase in market share for the group if it tends to satisfy its customers . Techinlogical: The age of Internet and the reception of new media reveal a lot of potential opportunities for Next Plc to boost profits Therefore the group relies heavily on its sub-brand Next Directory, through which customers can shop online, conveniently from home or through a mail order catalogue and the products are delivered the next day. Using this method the group can react instantly to changes in behaviours of its customers. 3.4 FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE The activities of the company in recent years have resulted in an exceptional financial performance. 3.4.1 SALES REVENUE The sales revenue of the group increased reasonablly well in the two years 2006-2008. Revenue incresed from  £ 3106.20m to  £ 3283.80m during the year ended 27th January 2007 resulting in an increase of 5.71% and in the year ended 28th January 2008, revenue further increased by 1.37% showing a consistant performance. This was achieved by roburst performance of Next Directory, and an effective cost control system. These are good results in a period of economic slowdown and are a reflection of the efforts we have made in building and improving the Next brand. (John Barton, Chairman Next Plc, Annual Report 2008) In 2009 the revenue of the group fell by 1.73% from  £ 3329.10M in 2008 to  £ 3271.50M in 2009. It was a tough year for the group, mainly because of the unstable economic conditions of UK as a whole, which began by the end of 2008 and still continues to worsen. Another reason for the decline in the turnover was the weakening of Great Britain Pound against dollar and euro, which are the main purchasing currencies of the group. But still the group did well to survive in these conditions and the management was pretty much optimistic about the financial conditions of the country. 3.4.2 PROFITABLITY RATIOS Gross Profit Margin The gross profit margin changed a little over the three years, this is because of the highly effective and efficient cost management of Next Plc. Revenue has increased over the years but the cost of sales hasnt changed much, proving that the group is cutting down its cost to save its customers from higher prices. In 2009, even under the tense economic conditions, the group has managed to decrease its cost of sales by 0.7% from  £2380m in 2008 to  £ 2,363m in 2009. This became possible due to the effective supplier management and good buying terms with its suppliers, even though pound got weaker against dollar and euro, which are the two main purchasing currencies of the group and higher tax rates, Next Plc aimed at reducing its costs rather than charging its customers with higher prices. Their response has been excellent,working hard with our suppliers to protect our customers from unaffordable price increases and our own margins, as far as possible. ( John Barton, Chairman Next Plc, Annual Report 2009) Marks and Spencers G.P margin was 38.6%% in 2008 and this decreased to 37.2% in 2009. This shows that the economic conditions were affecting everyone. But still GP margin of Marks and Spencers is better than Next. This is due to the increased amount of revenue generated by Marks and Spencers over the years from 2007 to 2009, in contrast with Next Plc. Net Profit Margin In 2008 net profit increased by 0.68% from 15.45% in 2007 to 16.13% in 2008. This was mailny due to the increase in revenue and effective management of overhead costs. In 2009, net profit declined by 9.3% from 16.13% in 2008 to 14.62% in 2009. Along with the weak economic environment and the decline in sales, another reason for this decline was the 39.9% increase in the overhead costs since 2008. This increase in the cost was due to the overseas expansion of the operations and the investment to strenghthen the Next brand. We are also extending the Next Brand into new overseas markets where we believe there are opportunities to build profitable businesses. If this is successful it will bring new sources of growth over the longer term. (John Barton, Chairman Next Plc, Annual Report 2008) Our goal has been to put a little of the magic back into the Next Brand through our product ranges, marketing and shopfit (Simon Wolfson, CEO Next Plc, Annual Report 2008) In contrast to this, the Net Profit Margin of Marks and Spencers is quite low as compared to Next Plc. It showed a varied trend over the three year period, being 10.9% in 2007, increasing to 11.8% by the year ended March 2008. In 2009, net profit declined by 22.16% from 11.8% in 2008 to 9.6% in 2009. Marks and Spencers incurs a very high cost on its admin, selling and general expenses amouting to almost  £2400m on average every year where as, Next Plc incurs just  £ 345m a year. Return on Capital Employed The return on capital employed (ROCE) assesses profits with the amount of funds (capital) employed to make the profits. This increased from 49.77% in 2007 to -53.27% in 2008. This represents an increase of 3.5%. But due to the economic unstability, the group could not maintain its high ROCE over the years and it declined by 9.85% from 53.27% in 2008 to 43.42% in 2009. On the other hand Marks and Spencers ROCE in 2008 increased by 0.44% to 22.37%. In 2009, it declined by 9.75% to 12.62%. This difference shows that Next is managing its resources much better, despite the fact that the revenue generated by Next Plc is approximately 37% lower than Marks and Spencers. The reason for a low ROCE for Marks and Spencers is the high overhead costs. It must control its costs in order to generate a higher return and free up additional extra capital invested. 3.4.3 LIQUIDITY RATIOS Current Ratio: This is a measure of the adequacy of companys current assets to meet short-term liabilities as they fall due, i.e its a basic liqiudity ratio. A ratio between 1 and 2 thought to be a standard level of liquidity. Next Plcs current ratio was 1.33, 1.11 and 1.50 in 2007, 2008 and 2009 respectively. This shows a healthy situation of the group as it has more current assests than its current liabiliteis as the ratio is greater than 1, therefore there does not seem to be any alarming situation for the group. If we compare the ratio of 1.50 in 2009, with the industry average of 1.93, it is very reasonable for the group but it can be improved by more efficient working capital management. Comparing the ratio to Marks and Specers, it was 0.52,0.59,0.60 respectively in 2007,2008 and 2009. This is because Marks and Spencers have a relatively high amount of current liabilities than Next Plcs, almost 30% more in year 2009. Quick Ratio: This differs from current ratio as it eliminates inventory from current assets providing a more useful position of the company to settle its immediate liabilities. Norms for quick ratios range from 0.7 to 1. Quick ratio of less than this is seen as a signal of illequidity. However, the trend of the ratio over time and comparison with the sector average are the most important indicator, as they are with current ratio aswell. Next Plcs quick ratio has been 0.82, 0.54, 0.93 for 2007 2008 and 2009 respectively. The ratio had a sharp decline in 2008 because of the  £242.7m short term debt raised by the company during the year in order to expand internationally. In 2009, the ratio was 0.93 which is quite good as compared to the industry average of 1.35. In comparison Marks and Spencers quick ratio was 0.22, 0.25, 0.30 in 2007, 2008 and 2009. This is quite alraming for the company as compraed to Next or the industry average, as it is very low. This is maily due to the high amount of debt finance invested in the group. This can be an alrming situation for the group as it can lead to illiquidity. This trend shows that Next Plcs in a better liquidity position and it may not face any problem settling short-term debts, whereas there may be pressure on Markss and Spencers suppliers. It indicates that Next Plc is making better use of its working capital. 3.4.4 GEARING RATIOS Capital Gearing Ratio: This indicates the extent to debt finance involved in a business. Next Plcs gearing ratio changed from 74.26% in 2007 to 111.22% in 2008 and 81.5% in 2009, whereas Marks and Spencers gearing ratio was 50.71% , 58.9%, 59.3% in 2007 2008 and 2009 respectively. In 2008, gearing ratio crossed over a 100% for Next Plc because of high level of debt taken by the group in order to finance the expansion and it exceeded the level of equity present in the group. We continued to invest in the Next Brand, spending  £39m refitting stores, maintaining advertising spend and improving the quality and design of our clothing and Home ranges (Simon Wolfson, CEO Next Plc, Annual Report 2008) Interest cover: The interest coverage ratio indicates the extent of which earnings are available to meet interest payments. An interest cover ratio of more than 3 times is considered safe as even if profits are reduced to half the company will still be able to meet its financing costs. Next Plcs had a very high interest cover of 15.37 in 2007. It then decreased to 12.38 and 9.74 in 2008 and 2009. On the other hand, the interest cover of Marks and Spencers showed a varied trend. It increased to 10.15 from 9.14 in 2008 and then decline by 51.6% to 5.24 times in 2009. Interest covere declined for both the companies in 2009. This was mailny due to the financial crisis the economy of UK is going through, but still it is much more than the safety margin i.e 3 times, therefore both the companies are in the position to settle their financial obligations. 3.5 INVESTOR OUTLOOK The earnings per share measures how much profit after tax is made for each individual share. (EPS) has been quite high for the group despite of the fall in the revenue in the 2009. The EPS of the group was 127.4p and it increased by 15.4% from 146.1p in 2007 to a record high of 168.7p in 2008. In 2009, EPS fell to 156p due to the fall in revenue. The continued use of surplus capital to buy back shares has again enabled us to deliver superior growth in earnings per share, our main financial objective ( John Barton, Chairman, Next Plc, Annual Report 08) The dividend per share of Next Plc was 44p and it then increased by 12.24% from 49p in 2007 to 55p in 2008. The group managed to maintain the same dividend per share of 55p in 2009, which is covered 2.8 times by earnings. Marks and Spencers EPS was 39.1p in 2007 and increased to 49.2p in 2008 before declining to 32.3p in 2009. The dividends per share were 18.3p, 22.5p, 17.8p in 2007,2008 and 2009 respectively. Despite having a very high EPS, the dividend payout ratio of Next Plc is much lower than Marks and Spencers. It was 33.5%, 32.6%, 35.2% in 2007,2008 and 2009 while the ratio of Marks and Spencers was 46.8%, 45.7%, 55.2% in 2007,2008 and 2009. This shows that Next Plc retains much of its profit as compared to Marks and Spencers. This can turn out to

Is ethnic profiling really helping society? Essay --

Is ethnic profiling really helping society? Ethnic profiling has been around for some time but is it getting worse? Are too many people going to far? Is it hurting or helping society? Many believe that ethnic profiling is only helping society and but in reality its only tearing us apart for because of the following reason. â€Å"Muslims endure long delay to become U.S Citizens they're pulled out of lines at airports and treated differently from other passengers (Lamkamp)†. Muslims are getting denied to become American just because of their Ethnics. Thats assuming that all Arabs or Muslims are terrorist. Thats like saying all Caucasians are rich. Which not all of them are. â€Å" Travel for many from the middle east has often been quite difficult, but following 9/11 and the Arab Springs it seems to be worsening (Kuwait).† Even though the terrorist attack in 9/11 was horrendous event to go through people should not assume every middle eastern is a terrorist. Many Middle Eastern are afraid of traveling because they think they might get pulled out of lines and get harassed. No one is better than anyone else therefore no one should be able to put themselves on a higher pedestal because they're a different ethnics. Although many believe ethnic profiling is helping society because it helps stop terrorist attacks they're incorrect for the following reason. â€Å" I thought they'd be happy I was leaving but instead they kept me waiting and were glaring at me as if I were a criminal. What's worse they ignored me completely and didn't tell me what was wrong( Ahmed)†. First and foremost they ignored her like she was not ... ... want to do its travel the world like the rest of us. If youre judging them because of their race you need to take a look in the mirror and see what type of person you really are.We are a Human Race and we need to stick together. We should let our differences make us stronger not tear us down. Marther Luther King had a dream that we should be equal and equal we shall be! Works Cited Conrad, Lisa. "Ethnic Profiling, Airport Security Procedures Await Arab Travelers." Kuwait Times 15 Nov. 2011: Newspaper Source Plus. Web. 25 Feb. 2014. Heath, Gilmore. "Racial Profiling Needed to Prove Australia Is Safe." Sydney Morning Herald, The 02 June 2010: 5. Newspaper Source Plus. Web. 25 Feb. 2014. Lakamp, Patrick. "Professor Decries Ethnic Profiling of Muslims: COMMUNITY." Buffalo News, The (NY) 11 May 2008: Newspaper Source Plus. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.

Continuing academic success Essay

Continuing academic success may seem like a distant dream that will never come true. In reality, it is possible to achieve academic success with hard work and persistence. The mind is a very powerful thing, if you set your mind to being successful you can be successful, that is one of the reasons why it is important to set goals and act with integrity in every aspect of your life. There are many factors that contribute to academic success such as knowing your learning style, learning the writing process, and taking advantage of the resources available. One of the things I have learned to use to help me learn and comprehend information is my personal learning style. â€Å"Learning styles are referred to as the characteristic ways in which a person gathers, identify, and process information.† (Alec, 2011 P. 1096) I believe that in life you cannot guess the outcome. So I use my learning style as a guide to further my education and knowledge in my everyday life. My learning style is doing; I like to try things out for myself and see if I get my desired results, I like to be involved in my own experiments. When being taught with a different learning style I make activities that I know will help me process the information in a way that I understand. Another aspect is my educational goals I want to get my bachelors in psychology. During school my target is to become more experienced, I would love to graduate with at least a 3.5 GPA. My career goal is to become a Suboxone counselor. Life has so much more to offer if you are mentally and physically present in your life to enjoy it. Writing was never my best subject in school; I went through many exams confused, after two failed reviews I decided to invest in my future. I asked a few professors, and I took a short course online. Soon I was able to past almost all my essays with flying colors. During 10th grade I begin losing interest, so I decided to do something about it. I joined a poetry club a few of the other students were putting together voluntary. I became more and more familiar with the writing technique I begin using it as an outlet, a personal sounding board to get my point across. Being successful whether in college or your career depends upon your writing and thinking skills. â€Å"The writing process is a chain of steps to follow as you take an idea and create a completed piece of writing.† (Anonymous, 2008, p. 18) The writing process is a guide that leads you through the different writing stages. First you  must choose your topic, recognizing the audience, references, and word count. Then it goes into making an outline, your thesis statement and writing a rough draft, and finally polishing it into the finished paper. It breaks your paper into smaller more manageable pieces that are easier to accomplish. I believe the writing process will help me in college a lot, because it not only helps you write papers, but it also gives you a guide to go by with any assignment. The writing process is a learning tool, it teaches you to set timelines, know what is being asked of you, and to gather correct and reliable information whether in college or on the job. I believe it will help me to reach my dream of becoming a Suboxone counselor. The writing process is one way I can improve my critical thinking skills. Critical thinking is when you look at every side of a problem or situation and come up with the best solution. The writing process is already helping me with that because it makes me look and find reliable sources which are one way I can improve my critical thinking. The ethical lens is another way that I can improve my critical thinking. My lens is reputation lens which means I look for the best solution that fits the community. By knowing my lens I can explore other lenses which will help me develop better critical thinking skills. By looking at everyone that your problem and solution will effect, it makes you think from each person’s perspective to see how each solution will affect them, which in the end improves your critical thinking skills. By learning to look at everyone involved, and how your decision can affect them you learn to make better decisions that will help the majority of the people involved. There are a lot of resources available to help college students succeed and reach their career goals. My main personal goal is to become a Suboxone counselor so that I can help people better their lives and families reunite. The university of phoenix is a resource in itself that I plan on using to further my education and learn the necessary learning materials I need to learn to be a counselor. Another resource is the phoenix career services which helps me know what education I need to reach my career goal, as well as aiding in resumes and job searches to get me started in my desired career. The university has so many resources to help students be successful inside or outside of the classroom such as the syllabus which puts your  learning activities and assignments for the current week and upcoming weeks on one page; so you always know what assignments and learning activities you need to complete and by when. I have started implementing this in my life so I always know when to do h omework, my work schedule, upcoming appointments, and free time that I can spend with my children. Another source is the life resource center. It teaches you how to balance life, work, and college. They have an assortment of online and telephone counselors, life coaches, and career coaches that are there to support you anytime you need them. One of my fears was balancing work, school, and my children, but this resource has articles, tips, and counselors that help me find a schedule that works for me. Another resource is the university library. The library has so many tools available whenever we need them. All of these resources are a great setup that I believe will help me be successful because I know that no matter what course I am in, there is an assortment of resources available, such as spelling and grammar checks, plagiarism checkers, math reviews and tutors. I feel like no matter what I will always have the help I need. Another big part of academic success is writing in almost every class there are essays involved, and a majority of the time you are required to have references. A big part of research is finding credible sources. Outside sources can be a lot of help; the internet has so much information from the present to the old days. You can find information on just about any topic you could ever want. However, the challenge of outside sources is digging into the information and making sure the information are facts and not a biased opinion. You have to make sure not only that the site you are on is credible but that the author and their information are reliable. In life and college it is important to have academic integrity. â€Å"Academic integrity is the set of core values and principles that underwrites the very mission of the university itself: integrity, honesty, hard work, and the determination to translate personal and professional principles into behaviors† (What is Academic Integrity-office of student Rights and Responsibilities, â€Å"2013). Integrity is a big part of college and writing papers, whenever you use sources you have to give credit where credit is due. Finally in all reality anyone can continue academic success. By setting goals and using your learning styles to learn and figure out how you comprehend information. You will be able to  learn any material given to you. Learning the writing process and your ethical lens to succeed in life, college, and your career while improving your critical thinking skills to help you balance and improve your life to make your dreams come true. Dreams can become reality with the right mindset and determination to reach them. Reference page Alecu, Irena. (2011, march)., Management, and Financial Markets, 6 (1), 1096-1103 Personality and Learning Styles. Economics. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/docview/869529857?accountid=458 Anonymous. (2008, October 16). Go Get a Book in your Hands: The writing process and some great New York stories. New York Amsterdam News. Office of Student Rights and Responsibility. (2013). Retrieved from http://osrr.Missouri.edu/facutly/

Language and the Text of Each Paper Essay

In this essay on the Brixton riots I hope to show how different newspapers can express the same basic facts in different ways to make the reader feel a certain way about the event – in this case, the Brixton riots. I will be looking at the front pages of two newspapers (which I call papers 1 and 2 in the essay), each of which describe the same event and include similar facts. The Brixton riots occurred in 1981 in Brixton, London, and were between the residents of Brixton (predominantly black) and the police forces. They came about in the first place because of historical background reasons and social reasons. Blacks had a history of low-ranked jobs with low pay. Since the British Empire broke up and the citizens of the Commonwealth countries, mostly black, moved to Britain, a lot of them were prepared to take low-ranked jobs so they could stay in the country. This meant that people in Britain associated them with being low-class. There were very few black people with high-ranked jobs. With people associating black people like this, it led to racism and general abuse. With all this abuse the blacks started to build up a stereotyped view of white people and because few black people had good jobs a stereotyped view of the police was built up as well. This meant that the tension was raised because each side mistrusted the other. The event that started off the Brixton riots occurred in Coldharbour lane in 1981. A policeman was on duty when a young black boy ran past him. The policeman, suspicious of the boy, ran after him. As he did so he tripped over the boy, badly injuring him. This aggravated the black community. Before this incident, the police had been given power to stop and search anyone they felt was suspicious which meant that the atmosphere in Brixton was tense. On the social side, in 1981 the Conservative government was in power with Margaret Thatcher as their leader. The less well off were dissatisfied with what the Government were doing. They hadn’t really done much at all to help young blacks. It was likely that if you were young and black at this period you would be unemployed. This meant that there was a lot of tension around, which helped to spark off the riots. With the riots being a shocking event, the press immediately got involved. This led to the events being sensationalised and being used as a money making scheme. When there is big news that is in the newspapers for quite a while, the papers develop a logo. Logos are used to structure and organise the paper . The readers get used to seeing a certain logo and they associate the logo with an event. Here it would be the Brixton riots. This helps the readers to find their way around the paper more easily. These logos seem to be giving a number of different impressions of the riots. In the captions beneath the logos a lot of the words seem to be in the semantic field of war. Words such as ‘battle’ and ‘war’, which are good examples of this semantic field, give the impression that the riots were very violent. The logo pictures are mostly of the same policeman with blood running down the side of his face. These images give the impression that there were some bad injuries in the riots and that the riots were very violent. However the fact that the logos are mostly concerned with the same image suggests that the injury inflicted on this policeman was perhaps the most dramatic injury there was in the riots. Even so, head wounds often appear to be much worse than they really are, which suggests that the riots were not so serious as the papers make them out to be and were, in fact, blown out of proportion. This image has been selected to attract the reader’s attention. If this were on T. V. it would still be easily possible to select and bias like you can in newspapers. A lot of news programmes choose their stories very carefully to ensure that a certain viewpoint is supported. Another way to manipulate facts is to take a very biased viewpoint . Two possible viewpoints are political and non-political. Newspaper 1 does seems to have a political viewpoint as it is taking pity on the police and is making them seem like the victims by criticising the rioters. This indicates that this paper takes the side of establishment and law rather than that of the rioters, the neglected residents of Brixton. Headlines such as ‘Police under Attack Again in New Fury’ makes the police out to be the victims and the mob to be a reckless, aggressive one. Headlines that demonstrate a particular viewpoint will attract the readers’ attention as they make the subject more dramatic. Newspaper 2 has a very different viewpoint, seeming to imply that the police were causing almost as much trouble as the rioters. ‘Eight police coaches, each containing forty men, were rushed to the area, further raising the tension’ suggests that this paper is taking the side of the rioters. It very much puts the blame on both the police and the Government and sympathises with the people of Brixton in its headlines . It is used here mainly to prejudice you even though it is opinion. ‘Police harassment’ and ‘Arrest sets off more clashes’ suggest that the main reason that the riots started was because of unnecessary action taken by the police. Other headlines, such as ‘No hope of jobs’ and ‘Decaying housing’, are blaming the Government for agitating the people of Brixton by not providing enough employment or repairing their houses. This could also be biased on T. V. as the editor could put forward only half of the full story ,so biasing the As well as having a very biased viewpoint to attract the readers, the paper can be made more attractive and eye catching. The front page of newspaper 1 is very eye-catching indeed. As soon as you look at it, your attention is drawn to the photograph and ‘BATTLEFRONT’ in large letters, the battlefront being the front line of the rioting. This banner headline, white lettering on a black background, takes up the whole width of the front page and is designed to make it stand out and catch your eye. The picture dominates the page and all the writing is positioned around it, making it the focus of the article. Also the headline, ‘The picture that sums up the horror of Bloody Brixton’, makes you look expectantly at the picture as well as using alliteration to draw your attention to it. The use of a capital letter for ‘Bloody’ gives the riots a historical connotation, as though it is already a well known event. Newspaper 2 has a much simpler front page, with a simple black headline, a subheading and a picture. Unlike on newspaper 1 the headline does not draw your attention to the picture, because it is not specifically related to it. Although there are some banner headlines across the top in bullet point form, displaying points such as ‘No hope of jobs’, they are much smaller. I think that this paper is less sensational and a bit more ‘refined’ than the other, typical tabloid newspaper. The headlines used in newspapers and the wording in them is another way to catch the readers attention . The headlines in a newspaper are very important as they often tell the reader what point of view the paper is taking, the nature of the event – if referring to one – who is involved, where it happened, and other bits of information as well. It is very important for a tabloid newspaper to use exciting and exaggerating vocabulary in them as this really helps to catch the readers’ attention and make them think that something very dramatic has happened. In newspaper 1, this has been done by using words such as ‘battlefront’. A word like this is obviously in the semantic field of war, making the events seem more dramatic. Other headlines, such as ‘Police under attack again in new fury’, make it sound as though the police were being physically attacked by the youths, who are described as ‘furious’. This sentence is in the passive tense whereas the other paper is written in the active. These headlines seem to be in a similar field of meaning and connotation as they are both associated with violence and the police being under attack. In newspaper 2, however, the headlines suggest different things. Headlines such as ‘Brixton points the finger’ and ‘Arrest sets off more clashes’ seem more thoughtful, as if the newspaper has analysed the events, not just exaggerated the happenings in them. They make it seem like Brixton is pointing the finger at the people who are doing the arresting (the police).

Smart Goals Wroksheet Essay Example

Smart Goals Wroksheet Essay Example Smart Goals Wroksheet Essay Smart Goals Wroksheet Essay University of Phoenix Material SMART Goals Part A: Reflect on your results from the Career Interest Profiler Activity and the Career Plan Building Activity: Competencies. Building on your strengths and weaknesses, create five SMART goals to help you with your personal academic and career journey. Resource: University of Phoenix Material: Goal Setting Example: Take a writing workshop in the next 2 to 3 weeks to help me improve my writing skills in order to successfully communicate with others. 1. Get my bumper fixed. 2. Get my son off the bottle. 3. Get my brakes and oil changed on my car. 4. Have a set time to go to bed and wake up. 5. Buy a new computer and printer when i get my school money. Part B: Evaluate your SMART goals according to the SMART criteria. Provide support for your evaluation. | |S |M |A |R |T | |Goal |Is the goal specific? |Is the goal measurable? |Is the goal attainable? Is the goal realistic? |Is the goal timely? | |Example: Take a writing workshop |Yes |Yes | Yes | Yes |Yes | |in the next 2 to 3 weeks to help | | | | | | |me improve my writing skills in |I will take a workshop to |I will measure my goal by |Writing workshops are ffered |I would have extra time to take|Two to three weeks is enough | |order to successfully communicate|improve my writing skills. |whether I complete the |on a weekly basis by University|the workshop. |time to complete a writing | |with others. | |workshop. |of Phoenix. | |workshop. | | | | | | | | |Goal 1: Get my bumper fixed by |Yes. Yes. |Yes. |Yes. |Yes. | |the end of this month. |I want to get the bumper on my |I have a deadline to get it |There is a place not 15 minutes|I can get the parts i need for |I can get it done one saturday | | |car fixed. |done by. |from my house where i can get a|a very cheap, reasonable price. |when im off. | | | | |replacement part. | | |Goal 2: Get my son off the |Yes. |Yes. |Yes. |Yes. |Yes. | |bottle. | I want to take away my sons |I can set a specific date i |It is something that needs to |Everyones children must come |We will work on weining. | | |bottle completely and have him |would like to achieve this by, |be done sooner rather than |off the bottle sometime. | | | |on a sippy cup. |given my son cooperates. later. | | | | | | | | | | |Goal 3: Get my brakes and oil |Yes. |Yes. |Yes. |Yes. |Yes. | |changed on my car within the next|My car needs to be taken care |This needs to be done on or |I have money put away |Every car has to have it done |It HAS to be done y a certain | |3000 miles. of have its scheduled |before 3000 miles. |specifically for this. |every so often. |milege. | | |maintence. | | | | | | | | | | | | |Goal 4: Have a set time to go to |Yes. Yes. |Yes. |Yes. |Yes. | |bed and wake up. |I want to make sure to go to |I need to have a set time to |However i need to make sure i |I might have to tweak my |I can slowly transition to this| | |bed on time so i can get up o n |wake up go to bed, lets say |get enough rest. |schedule but it can absolutely |in the next few weeks. | | |time. |10pm 530am. |work. | | |Goal 5: Buy a new computer and |Yes. |Yes. |Yes. |Yes. |No. | |printer when i get my school |I want to have the things i |I will make sure to do this |I KNOW i have the money coming |I will spend the money on what |I am not for certain when my | |money. |need for school. |when i get my money for school. |to me. |it needs to e spent on. |money will get here. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Part C: Answer the following questions in complete sentences. 1. How is understanding your career interests and competencies helpful in creating SMART goals? It helps because you can then determine where you need to be focusing your attention and putting your energy and effort. You can set out goals that could be pointing you in the wrong direction and when you finally complete them you might feel like it was a waste of time. So use the Careerv Profiler to your advantage because it can help you understand what it exactly you want to do. Even open you up to knew ideas you might not have known interested you. 2. How can understanding the value of SMART goals help in achieving your personal academic and career goals? I think just understanding how to use SMART goals itself is very helpful. It is a handy tool to help you create and lay out plans for yor goals instead of just talking about things. This way instead of just saying you want to do this and you want to do that you can actually sit down a realistically know what you want and how to make the things you want attainable.

The U.S. Militarys Space Operations

The U.S. Militarys Space Operations People love a good military conspiracy theory, including the one that the Air Force has its very own space shuttle. It all sounds very James Bond, but the truth is that the military actually never had a secret space shuttle.  Instead, it used NASAs space shuttle fleet until 2011. Then it built and flew its own mini-shuttle drone and continues to test it on long missions. However, while there may be great interest within the military for a space force, theres just not one out there. There is a space command at the U.S. Air Force, mainly interested in working through issues of armed forces using space resources. However, there arent phalanxes of soldiers up there, just a lot of interest in what military use of space might eventually become. The U.S. Military in Space The  theories about the military use of space stem largely from the fact that the U.S. Department of Defense flew secret missions on the shuttles when NASA was still using them to get to space. Interestingly, when NASAs fleet was being developed, there were plans to make  additional copies exclusively for military purposes. That affected the specifications of the shuttle design, such as the length of its glide path, so that the vehicle could accommodate military and top-secret missions. There was also a shuttle launch facility built in California, at Vandenberg Air Force Base. This complex, called SLC-6 (Slick Six), was supposed to be used to put shuttle missions into polar orbits. However, after the Challenger exploded  in 1986, the complex was put into caretaker status and was never used for a shuttle launch. The facilities were mothballed until the military decided to retool the base for satellite launches. It was used to support Athena launches until 2006 when Delta IV rockets began to lift off from the site.   Use of the Shuttle Fleet for Military Operations Ultimately, the military decided that having dedicated shuttlecraft for the military was unnecessary. Given the amount of technical support, staff, and facilities required to run such a program, it made more sense to use other resources to launch payloads into space. In addition, more sophisticated spy satellites were developed to accomplish reconnaissance missions. Without its own fleet of shuttles, the military relied on NASAs vehicles to meet its needs for access to space. In fact, the space shuttle Discovery was planned to be available to the military as its exclusive shuttle, with civilian use as it was available. It was even going to be launched from the militarys Vandenbergs SLC-6 launch complex. Ultimately the plan was scrapped following the Challenger disaster. In recent years, the space shuttle fleet has been retired and new spacecraft are being designed to take humans to space.   For years, the military used whatever shuttle was available at the time of need, and military payloads were launched from the usual launchpad at Kennedy Space Center. The last shuttle flight strictly for military use was carried out in 1992 (STS-53). The subsequent military cargo was taken up by shuttles as a secondary part of their missions. Today,  with the increasingly reliable use of rockets via NASA and SpaceX (for example), the military has much more cost-effective access to space.   Meet the X-37B Mini-shuttle Drone While the military hasnt had a need for a conventional manned orbiting vehicle, some situations could call for a shuttle-type craft.  However, these craft will be quite different from the current stable of orbiters- perhaps not in look, but definitely in function. The X-37 shuttle  is a good example of where the military is going with a shuttle-type spacecraft. It  was originally designed as a potential replacement for the current shuttle fleet. It had its first successful flight in 2010, launched from atop a rocket. The  craft carries no crew, its missions are secret, and it is entirely robotic. This mini-shuttle has flown several long-term missions, most likely performing reconnaissance flights and specific types of experiments.   Clearly, the military is interested in the ability to place objects into orbit as well as have reusable spy craft; the expansion of projects like the X-37 thus seems entirely possible and very likely will continue into the foreseeable future. The U.S. Air Force space command, with bases and units around the globe, is the front line for space-based missions, and also focuses on cyberspace capabilities for the country, as needed.   Could There Ever Be a Space Force? Occasionally politicians float  the idea of a space force. What that force would be or how it would be trained are still very large unknowns. There are few facilities to get soldiers ready for the rigors of fighting in space. As well, theres been no talk by veterans of such training, and expenditures for such places would eventually show up in budgets. However, if there was to be a space force, massive changes to military structures would be needed. As mentioned, training would have to ramp up on a scale so far unknown to any military on the planet. Thats not to say one couldnt be created in the future, but there isnt one now.   Edited and updated by Carolyn Collins Petersen.

Psychological Effects of Organ Donation on the Organ Donor Dissertation

Psychological Effects of Organ Donation on the Organ Donor - Dissertation Example The two sources of organ donation are live human donors, mostly close family relatives of the patient in need of the organ, and cadaveric donors. Â  Live donors usually do it for altruistic reasons in the hope of saving the life of a loved one. On the other hand, in the case of cadaveric donation, the issue of consent of the deceased donor comes into question.The two sources of organ donation are live human donors, mostly close family relatives of the patient in need of the organ, and cadaveric donors. Â  Live donors usually do it for altruistic reasons in the hope of saving the life of a loved one. On the other hand, in the case of cadaveric donation, the issue of consent of the deceased donor comes into question.Straus and Corbin (1990) wrote that any phenomenon with limited information can still be better understood by using qualitative research methods. Qualitative methods are useful in unearthing new insights or perspectives on phenomena that are already much studied. It is po ssible to acquire more depth of information than what has surfaced so far, which may otherwise be difficult to explain quantitatively. Â  For this study, the qualitative method will be used, specifically, interviews with organ donors and their family members recruited from an organ donor facility or hospital. Â  At least 8 participants are targeted and their interviews will be guided by the following questions and their insights will be encouraged. Â  Data will be analyzed using thematic analysis which looks for patterns emerging from the data such as predominant thoughts, emotions and opinions commonly shared by the respondents regarding organ transplantation. This study will not claim that the data gathered will be representative of the views of the general population of organ donors and their families, however, it will contribute information to the literature on Health Psychology based on the data gathered

Multiculturalism and diversity management Essay

Multiculturalism and diversity management - Essay Example This also touches on the issues concerning the company’s expansion in Japan and Germany including economic and political concerns and the methods that can be utilized for the success of the expansion. Multiculturalism and Diversity In this era of globalization, diversity has been a hot topic to everyone, especially to industries that participate in the global market. As we all know, almost everything today is made in the world’s largest workforce – China. This reality has been an effect of globalization, making the globe as a giant melting pot. (Gamble, 2002, p 19) Corporations that venture into global expansion face cultural issues with the hosting countries. Since cultural difference is a major issue on this endeavour, managing multiculturalism and diversity plays an important part on global expansion. This enables the expanding corporations to understand the cultural difference of the hosting country from their own culture which allows them to view the strengt hs and the downsides of the endeavour that prepares them to manage the possible issues successfully. (Gamble, 2007, p 43) Importance of Multiculturalism and Diversity Management on Global Expansion Multiculturalism and diversity management is an integral part of global expansion. Multiculturalism and Diversity Management 3 This gives the managers and staff of a company to be able to interact to their hosting countries accordingly, without taking the hosting countries’ culture for granted. This provides a more fertile ground for growth of new ideas instead of a culture that is comfortable only with ‘likeness’. As globalization becomes a hot topic in the business world, companies realize that knowing the cultures of countries that host their offshore sites is and essential part of global expansion to avoid embarrassment, legal offenses that can lead to loss of business and some other important factors to become successful in their endeavour. As a company, the trans fer of their technology, practices and beliefs to their hosting country is not enough in order to succeed in the global expansion. Cultural differences surely come into play that could create friction in the workplace. Economic Concerns Technology is one of the so many economic concerns multinational companies face during global expansion. Some businesses choose to expand internationally to take advantage of the lower cost of labour in developing countries; they need to plan for intermediate and appropriate technology. They should match a country’s resources or may choose to invest in a country that is at par with the current technology being used. (Gamble, 2007, p 76) Financial management is another economic concern MNC has during global expansion. This concern is a little challenging as countries change in value due to currency exchange rates. Managers of MNC should have a deep understanding in currency values, financial tools like derivatives, hedges, payment timing, price adjustments and balance sheet neutralizing. (Gamble, 2007, p 78) Multiculturalism and Diversity Management 4 Political Concerns Total quality respect is an integral part of a company expanding globally. Since culture varies from one country to another, respect to one’s beliefs is an essential aspect in order to manage an MNC. Political concerns like religious beliefs and humanity are two of the most common concerns MNC overlook in their international expansion. Managers of MNC should be open to different ideas and beliefs to avoid political

Self Concept Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Self Concept - Essay Example It helps the child in building a good relation with his family and fellows around. So it could be said that it is a mental understanding or the knowledge of one's own existence and personality. Few physical and social attributes affect the personality of a person along with the social attributes. These attributes affect the attitude, habits and thinking of a person. During a lifetime, as a child the self-concepts are not so visible and they can get change as well with the passage of time. But as he grows older the self-concept becomes more incorporated and his psychology and social life becomes clearer and he can be judged better on the base of his attitude and habits and more psychological attributes. The self-concept of a person can be influenced by the sense of identity and other features, which affect the self-concept of a person, are the opinions that are being shared by the other people around, that what they think actually about us. The other things, which affect the self-concept, is the comparisons and similarities which are there between us and the other people around us. How much are we similar to them or how much are we different from them. Gergen (1965) showed in his study that the self-concept is affected by the reaction of other people and people cannot talk honestly about themselves. He conducted an interview with few people and he came to know that people cannot talk about themselves and what they talk usually reflect the views which people posses about them. And very few people rated themselves accurately, most of them rated themselves according to the perceptions of their friends and families. Here, we can look at the Ekman's six universal emotions, which are same all over the world and people from different regions posses, these emotions in the same way. The emotions are happiness sorrow anger disgust surprise As we look at the above listed events, these are the events, which lead people to shape their self-concept. In happiness, a person is sometimes out-of-control and it affects the normal mindset of the person. So at that time the person react in a way, which helps him understand that what do he or she actually wants to do and they do it without any boundary. The other situation is the state of sorrow, where a person can loose the hope and can go for anything, which he or she cannot think of doing in any normal circumstances. This event gives a real opportunity to a person to judge his self-concept and to get a clear vision of his weakness and strengths as well. The other event is the anger - which is an important event. If a person is able to control his anger, he can easily do anything in the world. Controlling anger is important because during this state of mind, a person can do anything reversible and it is an important event to judge someone's self-esteem and self-concept. Fourth event is the disgust; a stable mind is needed to cope in this state. This event is also an important event and it helps in getting knowledge about the one's own positive and negative points. The fifth and last event is the surprise. Surprise can be positive as well as the negative. The reaction of a person towards the surprise, whether a positive

Critical evaluation of leadership values, attitudes and behaviours and Essay

Critical evaluation of leadership values, attitudes and behaviours and their impact on others and the organisation - Essay Example Leadership, unlike management, is about identifying with the intangibles of human behaviour and attitude and attempting to apply empathetic and considerate policies and procedures to improve interpersonal relationship development and to facilitate individual development, thus improving human capital advantages within the organisation, through such practices as coaching and mentoring. Having provided an understanding of leadership and its primary definition, it should be reinforced that only a reflective leader is one that will consistently improve and be able to identify with the diverse psychological, sociological, and tangible needs of employees as it pertains to their role within the organisation. One methodology of ensuring reflection as ongoing, cyclical practice is the 360 degree feedback system, a process of engaging multiple stakeholders to provide meaningful feedback about attitude, behaviour and performance of a peer or subordinate to give a broader and more accurate view o f where an individual requires development or improvement. ... This project attempts, based on research findings and personal reflection, to establish a best practice model of leadership through engagement with multi-rater feedback processes that can provide benefit to the organisation and its staff population. Nature of current leadership agenda The NHS has established a quality agenda that underpins success for health care professionals. According to the NHS, this includes â€Å"lifelong learning for health professionals and modern systems of professional self-regulation† (NHS 2012, p.2). Quality, as it pertains to leadership development, therefore involves being able to continuously improve and engage in reflective practice to improve health care delivery and reduce variations that impact quality of care. The NHS recognises that effective and competent leadership is a fundamental aspect of building efficiencies and productivity in health care delivery and building capacity for quality outputs. Before establishing a competency framework for effectual leadership practices, it is necessary to define leadership at its foundation. â€Å"A leader is one who selects, equips, trains, and influences one or more follower(s) who have diverse gifts, abilities, and skills and focuses the follower(s) to the organization’s mission and objectives causing the follower(s) to willingly and enthusiastically expend spiritual, emotional, and physical energy in a concerted coordinated effort to achieve the organizational mission and objectives† (Winston and Patterson 2006, p.7). By this definition, a competency framework for leadership development is achievable, through first understanding that leadership is about maintaining influence to engage stakeholder behavioural changes or improvements,

Critique-Does the Internet strengthens Social Connections Essay

Critique-Does the Internet strengthens Social Connections - Essay Example Writer has given evidences from many sources to support his viewpoint however; enough evidence is available to counter the viewpoint of writer. This essay will make an effort to highlight that Internet does not strengthen social connections rather it is a source of weakening them. In particular, the paper will include different examples to discuss the above-mentioned statement. Writer (2011) has discussed â€Å"diffusion of information across a wide population† and â€Å"online communities or social networking sites â€Å"as big advantages. It needs discussion how much these linkages have benefited humanity and the world as a whole. One need to see whether world is a better place to live today than it was ever before. It is considered that internet is damaging basic fabric of human society by replacing Face-to-Face Communication with Online Communication. Over the years, people of all ages, especially younger ones prefer to surf the web in homes rather than spending time wit h family members. Reference is made to a study available regarding negative effects of internet on teenagers, which states, (Web) â€Å"The proliferation of pornographic materials is undeniably one of the alarming things that has brought about by the Internet. It does not only corrupt the minds of the young people that are exposed to them but also it paves the way for the degradation of human dignity. It also strains the moral make up of society. The Internet also alienates the person from his social self. While most think that talking to loved ones through the computer screens allows or offers the same satisfaction of social needs just like engaging in conversations personally, there really is a big difference between the virtual self and the social self. This could further lead to addiction, which could hamper a person’s way of living and those who are directly in contact with him. The Internet was intended to be used for military purposes. However, due to its versatility and applicability, we have it as how it is used today. It exists as our friend when used properly and our foe when misused†. Beyond doubt internet has facilitated means for interpersonal communication while using social networking site like Face book and MSN Messenger, but to what end ?, it has become a biggest time waster for American people specially youth. People are found deeply involved in a never-ending loop of chatting, instant messaging, emailing, video conferencing, webcam pornography and host of other activities related to net. Social connectivity resulting from cyber space is temporary and forgettable. Faces can be swapped on net like web pages, one leading to another as a chain reaction without real affiliation with any one. Utility of internet in establishing social connections is a fact however these connections are, in majority cases, short lived, temporary and forgettable. Parents are very commonly found complaining about kids always sticking to internet one-wa y or the other. In addition to negative socializing there are menaces like entertainment , pornography and anti- religion sites which have become a source of mental deviation rather disease for many people. Another menace introduced by net is mind wandering in which people are not mentally present where they physically are. Web reference (Web -Social Capital and College Students’) quoted by writer refutes use of social networking sites by saying: Although this early work acknowledged the ways in which offline and online networks bled into one another, the assumed online to offline directionality may not apply to today’s SNSs that are structured both to articulate existing connections and enable the creation of new

Good vs Evil in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Research Paper

Good vs Evil in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde - Research Paper Example Great people are involved in bad things this is the fact of live, yet this does not make them evil (Stevenson pp 28-75). Using the central characters and the key theme of the duplicity of mankind Louis Stevenson strategically clears the air on the broad theme of good and evil in the book. By use of the character of Dr. Jekyll, the author explains ‘good’. Mr. Utterson who is a lawyer based in London also an old friend of Dr. Jekyll; he has the quality of being loyal to his friends and also concerned about Henry Dr. Jekyll. With this loyalty, he asks him about his pal Mr. Hyde whom he had left his luggage in his will (Cresser N.P). "You know I never approved of it," said the doctor. Mr. Utterson believes that the doctor bed them by lies possession to a man whom he meet but rather than being annoyed. Dr. Jekyll he shows concern like a true loyal friend would have, from Mr. Utterson view he explain and also offer an honest and fair narrative role though this can be ironical for it is directly intertwined to his profession of a lawyer (Dury pp 2-4). Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are depicted as an examination of the duality of human nature. This is expressing in the revelation that, Mr. Hyde is Dr. Jekyll only transformed into a personification of Dr. Jekyll characteristics. In the pursuit if his scientific experiments and validating his work, Dr. Jekyll claims â€Å"man is not truly one, but truly two† therefore according to Dr. Jekyll’s opinion, every soul contains elements of both good and evil but is evil inside of him. As a highly respected member of the society and also an honorable Victorian gentleman, Dr. Jekyll cannot fulfill his evil desires. To satisfy and also separate the two parts he has to work to come up with a way to alienate it from his soul free his evil characteristic (Linehan pp 46). Dr. Jekyll can be considered as a complete composite because he has a mixture of good and

Critical evaluation of leadership values, attitudes and behaviours and Essay

Critical evaluation of leadership values, attitudes and behaviours and their impact on others and the organisation - Essay Example Leadership, unlike management, is about identifying with the intangibles of human behaviour and attitude and attempting to apply empathetic and considerate policies and procedures to improve interpersonal relationship development and to facilitate individual development, thus improving human capital advantages within the organisation, through such practices as coaching and mentoring. Having provided an understanding of leadership and its primary definition, it should be reinforced that only a reflective leader is one that will consistently improve and be able to identify with the diverse psychological, sociological, and tangible needs of employees as it pertains to their role within the organisation. One methodology of ensuring reflection as ongoing, cyclical practice is the 360 degree feedback system, a process of engaging multiple stakeholders to provide meaningful feedback about attitude, behaviour and performance of a peer or subordinate to give a broader and more accurate view o f where an individual requires development or improvement. ... This project attempts, based on research findings and personal reflection, to establish a best practice model of leadership through engagement with multi-rater feedback processes that can provide benefit to the organisation and its staff population. Nature of current leadership agenda The NHS has established a quality agenda that underpins success for health care professionals. According to the NHS, this includes â€Å"lifelong learning for health professionals and modern systems of professional self-regulation† (NHS 2012, p.2). Quality, as it pertains to leadership development, therefore involves being able to continuously improve and engage in reflective practice to improve health care delivery and reduce variations that impact quality of care. The NHS recognises that effective and competent leadership is a fundamental aspect of building efficiencies and productivity in health care delivery and building capacity for quality outputs. Before establishing a competency framework for effectual leadership practices, it is necessary to define leadership at its foundation. â€Å"A leader is one who selects, equips, trains, and influences one or more follower(s) who have diverse gifts, abilities, and skills and focuses the follower(s) to the organization’s mission and objectives causing the follower(s) to willingly and enthusiastically expend spiritual, emotional, and physical energy in a concerted coordinated effort to achieve the organizational mission and objectives† (Winston and Patterson 2006, p.7). By this definition, a competency framework for leadership development is achievable, through first understanding that leadership is about maintaining influence to engage stakeholder behavioural changes or improvements,

Good vs Evil in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Research Paper

Good vs Evil in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde - Research Paper Example Great people are involved in bad things this is the fact of live, yet this does not make them evil (Stevenson pp 28-75). Using the central characters and the key theme of the duplicity of mankind Louis Stevenson strategically clears the air on the broad theme of good and evil in the book. By use of the character of Dr. Jekyll, the author explains ‘good’. Mr. Utterson who is a lawyer based in London also an old friend of Dr. Jekyll; he has the quality of being loyal to his friends and also concerned about Henry Dr. Jekyll. With this loyalty, he asks him about his pal Mr. Hyde whom he had left his luggage in his will (Cresser N.P). "You know I never approved of it," said the doctor. Mr. Utterson believes that the doctor bed them by lies possession to a man whom he meet but rather than being annoyed. Dr. Jekyll he shows concern like a true loyal friend would have, from Mr. Utterson view he explain and also offer an honest and fair narrative role though this can be ironical for it is directly intertwined to his profession of a lawyer (Dury pp 2-4). Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are depicted as an examination of the duality of human nature. This is expressing in the revelation that, Mr. Hyde is Dr. Jekyll only transformed into a personification of Dr. Jekyll characteristics. In the pursuit if his scientific experiments and validating his work, Dr. Jekyll claims â€Å"man is not truly one, but truly two† therefore according to Dr. Jekyll’s opinion, every soul contains elements of both good and evil but is evil inside of him. As a highly respected member of the society and also an honorable Victorian gentleman, Dr. Jekyll cannot fulfill his evil desires. To satisfy and also separate the two parts he has to work to come up with a way to alienate it from his soul free his evil characteristic (Linehan pp 46). Dr. Jekyll can be considered as a complete composite because he has a mixture of good and

Ice and Snow Removal Essay Example for Free

Ice and Snow Removal Essay Ice can affect an airplane’s engine two ways. First, it can form in the carburetor of the engine, blocking the travel of the fuel-air mixture through the carb and possibly resulting in engine failure. Second, ice can also form over the air inlets through which the stream of air must flow on its way to the intake system of the power plant (Eichenberg, 2001 p. 14). Deep inside of the carb, there is a little passageway through increase in its temperature because the compression physically forces the molecules of the gas closer to each other. When the compressive force is removed, as it is when the fuel-air mixture travels back into a wide opening of the venturi, the temperature of the gas drops. Cooling occurs because the compressive force has been removed and the molecules spread out; hence, molecular activity (heat) declines. A small flapper that controls how much fuel air mixture is allowed to go into the cylinders is placed in or very near the venturi tube. This flapper device is called a â€Å"throttle place. † When you push in or pull out the throttle control in the cockpit, the action is to move the throttle plate in the carburetor. In turn, the throttle plate is regulating the amount of the fuel-air mixture that is being fed to the intake system of the engine: more flow, more power; less flow, less power. It works the same way in a car engine (Andersland and Ladanyi, 2004 p. 242). When the air is colder than freezing, ice loves to form on the edges of hard objects that are placed in the stream of the air laden with water vapor. Moreover, the temperature drop in the carburetor can be as much as 90F and the freezing point of water is 32 °F, carburetor ice can be a possibility anytime (Lankford, 2000 p. 68); hence, the removal of ice and snow is necessary . Discussion Ice Formation and the Processes Involved In understanding the concepts of ice and snow removal, it is essential to understand the process behind the rationale of ice formation in these structures to further comprehend the rationale behind the mechanics of ice and snow removal. Icing on the airframe of an airplane is deadly, although severity cannot be overemphasized (Andersland and Ladanyi, 2004 p. 242). Any accumulation is a situation that must be dealt with immediate concern especially is it has been prior to plane functioning. The course of action the pilot takes depends upon many factors, including but certainly not limited to whether the airplane has any ice-protection equipment. Normally the water in the air is in a gaseous state, and we refer to it as water vapor. Water vapor will change to the liquid state at a certain temperature (determined by atmospheric conditions) and become visible, and such temperature is considered as the dew point (Eichenberg, 2001 p. 14). When the dew point is lower than the ambient temperature, the vapor remains a gas, and the water molecules may not be evident in the air. When much vapor is contained in the air that the air cannot hold any more, the humidity has reached or very nearly approached the 100% level (Ashford, Stanton, Moore, 1997 p. 312). When humidity hits 100 percent, dew point and temperature will be the same, and water vapor will start becoming visible. The formation may evidently become fog, clouds, rain, drizzle, or other forms (Eichenberg, 2001 p. 16). Airplanes can fly just fine through most visible moisture as long as the temperature at the flight level is warm enough that the water do not freeze. However, when the ambient temperatures are cold enough that the water in the air is already frozen, it generally will not adhere to the airframe: hence, structural icing is not generally a problem in those conditions. Water can exist in the liquid state at temperatures below 32F. It is called super cooled water (Ashford, Stanton, Moore, 1997 p. 313). The science behind this phenomenon is complex, and it is essential to understand that super cooled water can be present even though the temperature outside the airplane below freezing. When a droplet of super cooled water hits the airplane, the surface tension on the outside of the droplet breaks (Andersland and Ladanyi, 2004 p. 247). Since the airframe is cold and at or below freezing, if the ambient temperature is likewise, the droplet freezes to the airframe upon impact, and ice forms. Ignore the friction heating that occurs on the leading edges of the airframe, when though the space shuttle gets red hot from friction as it reenters the atmosphere, it will not gain any similar effect in a small airplane (Andersland and Ladanyi, 2004 p.246). At speeds faster than about 400 knots, ice seldom adheres to airframes, but does not go that fast either. When your light airplane goes through the applicable atmospheric conditions, ice will form on it (Lankford, 2000 p. 64). Airframe icing can also occur when the clouds or other visible moisture and the surface of the airplane are at a temperature slightly warmer than freezing and the water is not super cooled. As water droplets hit the airframe and splatter, they cool slightly (Eichenberg, 2001 p. 16). Expect airframe ice in temperatures as warm as about 34 °Ã¢â‚¬â€36 °F. Ice that forms on the structure of the airplane falls into three classifications: rime, clear, and mixed. Rime ice is cloudy in appearance due primarily to the fact that it contains air entrained within the ice (Ashford, Stanton, Moore, 1997 p. 312). Clear ice is smooth and much more transparent than is rime because it has little if any air trapped inside. On the other hand, mixed ice is a combination of rime and clear types. The Dangers of Ice and the Rationale for its Removal Ice and snow removal in air crafts post various risks that may affect the passengers and the crew present especially during flight. Our discussion about the effects of ice on the airframe and dealing with icing encounters assumes that flying an airplane that is not approved for flight into known icing conditions. Only a very few light, single engine airplanes are so approved, while the greatest majority of light planes cannot be flown into icing conditions, either legally or safely (Ashford, Stanton, Moore, 1997 p. 314). Accumulations of ice on the airframe do three things, none of which is positive: airfoils change shape, weight is added, and drag increases The worst part of airframe ice is the simple fact that all three negatives act together—you never get just one or two of them (Eichenberg, 2001 p. 16). When ice accumulates, the airplane needs to carry more weight, with a wing that has far less lifting power than it will when clean of ice, and the airplane’s increased drag must be overcome by a propeller that cannot produce its normal thrust, since it is contaminated with ice too (Andersland and Ladanyi, 2004 p. 248). This combination has effects that are exponential in the decreased performance of the airplane. Any amount of Ice on the wings, tail surfaces, and propeller changes the shape of the affected surface. This change of shape changes the airfoil and alters its characteristics. Ice never accumulates exactly the same way twice, so when flying an airplane, not approved for known icing conditions, and get into ice with it (Kazda and Caves, 2007 p. 112). When a factory seeks certification of an airplane for flight into known icing, any experiments and analyses are performed that do not done for a lightplane, which is not going to be certified for known icing (Ashford, Stanton, Moore, 1997 p. 313). The manufacturer will do, or contract to have done, what is known as an impingement analysis. This means that, through the use of computer models and scientific analysis, engineers will look at the airfoils and determine where water droplets of certain sizes will affect the leading edge. After the impingement analysis is completed, the airplane will be flown in natural icing conditions as a part of its certification trials (Vinson, Rooney, 2006 p. 72). Often, a model of the wing will be put into a wind tunnel that can spray water droplets onto it, and further test the results of the impingement analysis. Moreover, the airplane will be flown behind a tanker that sprays water onto it so the flight test people can see how the entire deicing system works in flight (Eichenberg, 2001 p. 18). None of these steps is taken when certifying an airplane that will not be approved for flight into known icing (Andersland and Ladanyi, 2004 p. 248). Such is the reason for precarious position when getting into ice in a typical light plane, which has never been tested or certified for known icing. Nobody knows what shape the airfoils will take as Ice builds on them. As the accumulation progresses, the shapes of the wing, tail surfaces, and prop are continually changing (Kazda and Caves, 2007 p. 114). No one knows the handling qualities, stall speeds, stall characteristics, reduction of prop thrust, or any of the other performance parameters of what is now a totally new and different airplane (Ashford, Stanton, Moore, 1997 p. 314). Ice adds mass to the entire airframe where it adheres. Mass equals weight; therefore, an airplane encountering ice gets heavier as the ice grows. Ice is also very heavy. Water weighs about 64 pounds per cubic foot, and recall that clear ice will be very close to the weight of water (Andersland and Ladanyi, 2004 p. 246). Rime and mixed ice will be a little lighter, but not by much. As the buildup occurs, the drag penalty increases, and again the effects grow at exponential rates. Even small parts of the airplane, like radio antennae, once coated with ice, become producers of large amounts of drag (Vinson, Rooney, 2006 p. 71). Snow and Ice Removal in Ground Areas Occasionally, some will find an airport that will use sand on a runway and other paved areas, but sand can wreak havoc when ingested into turbine engines, it can also be picked up by propellers and heavily abrade them With the increasing jet and turboprop fleets, sand is not used much anymore. Most airports do a very good job of plowing snow from the areas where airplanes operate (Eichenberg, 2001 p. 16). However, plowing alone cannot remove all of the snow, and is little help at clearing ice from the paved areas. Even though the modern chemicals do some good, a runway cannot be rid of ice like a road can where salt is used. Pilots have to expect and deal with ice on the ground.