Nike Marketing Objectives

Nike’s marketing objective is to employ a range of marketing communication tactics that can cater to the organization’s target market, who have different nationalities, genders, cultures, and ages. To enable this, Nike introduces its latest products through a marketing communication group that can strengthen the â€Å"positioning of, and key messages about, the Nike brand,† through different forms of visual aids and point-of-purchase advertising. In connection to this, Nike continuously aims to apply marketing tactics that are appropriate with the people who reside in these continents or nations. For example, aside from traditional advertising in the form of television, billboards, and the like, Nike also makes use of contemporary marketing instruments such as the internet, wherein people in almost any part of the world could access various sites to customize Nike shoes and products. Moreover, Nike applies an effective marketing communication and at the same time still relatively manages to be cost-effective in terms of its marketing programs. Although Nike’s marketing expenses may seem excessive, they employ internationally recognized celebrity athletes; they overflow retail networks with promotions of products and other giveaways. According to Knight and Greenberg (2002, pg 548), the integration of endorsements and sponsorships enables Nike to represent itself as a socially concerned actor promoting sport as a solution to social problems. The company’s campaign theme is JUST DO IT. The Campaign will target men and woman and especially those in the basketball scene that are of 14 to 30 years of age. Nike sprint shoes are not only good shoes to wear but are strong, durable and comfortable, this way, the company will convince them to take action. The campaign will also exist as billboards; through celebrity endorsements like Michael Jordan and James Lebron. The Company will also use electronic media (commercials, official website of Nike and newspapers) to promote the brand), (Marketing Plan of Nike,2011)

Subatomic Particles and the Human Buffer System

Essay-Subatomic Particles There are three different types of subatomic particles. The nucleus of an atom is composed of two different types of particles, protons and neutrons. Protons are positively charged atoms. The weight of a proton is one amu. Protons are located inside the nucleus and cannot move from inside the nucleus. The proton symbol is . Neutrons are also located inside the nucleus and have a neutral charge. Neutrons are also one amu like protons. Neutrons can move from the nucleus of an atom making an atom an isotope. The neutron symbol is .Electrons are located outside the nucleus in energy levels. Electrons have a negative charge and weigh approximately 1/2000th of an amu. The weight is almost insignificant. Electrons can vary in an atom making cations and anions. Cations are a positive charge when an atom loses an electron. Anions are a negative charge when an atom gains an electron. These are the three subatomic particles that make up an atom and their characteristic s. Essay- Buffer System Buffers resist pH fluctuations. A buffer is composed of a weak acid and a weak base. Carbonic acid is the weak acid and bicarbonate is the weak base.When a solution is to acidic the pH is low and there are to many hydrogen ions. The low pH level is caused by to many hydrogen ions. To make a solution neutral you would need to make more acid my combining bicarbonate and hydrogen ions to form carbonic acid. By doing this you are reducing the number of hydrogen ions in a solution. When a solution is to basic the pH is high and the number of hydrogen ions is low. The pH is high because the solution has a low number of hydrogen ions. To make a solution neutral in a basic solution you need to break down carbonic acid increasing the number of hydrogen ions.

Business Plan (Financial Part) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Business Plan (Financial Part) - Essay Example These are powerful tools since these would contain a summary of the services that the office would render. With this plan, the owner budgeted for the design and production of the materials on a quarterly basis. An agency will be outsourced to fulfill this requirement. CFL would also be utilizing Search Engine Optimization, thus the budget to be allocated for the creation and hosting of its website. The creation of a web site would only be one-time and any change to the website would essentially be just minor ones and would not entail too much costs. Print ads would also be produced to support the above-mentioned marketing plans and also to reach the market who are heavy users of this medium. A monthly print advertisement shall be implemented in two major dailies in Cyprus. The budgetary requirements have been spread all throughout the first year of operations to be able to determine the needed cash flow. Targets on the number of needed accounts to cover for all operational costs have also been determined. These targets must be adhered to by the account managers to ensure smooth operations of the company. The 50,000 pounds start-up capital shall not be used up 100% for the first month, but instead, only 25% of which shall be spent on the perceived operational requirements./The rest shall be treated as savings and would only be used as needed. The cash flow has been planned to ensure that the projected income shall cover for the projected costs. The targeted number of projects and clients has been identified for the rest of the operational year. This is to ensure that all operational costs shall be covered for and that there would be as little deficit as can be should the plans do not materialize. The budget requirements are definitely lower than the projected income. The company plans to adhere to this budget plan to ensure that the office, at the very least, breaks even. However, as such a business is bound to

Phosphoribosylpyrophosphate Synthetase Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Phosphoribosylpyrophosphate Synthetase - Essay Example Others require an additional chemical component called a cofactor such as an inorganic ion Fe2+, Mg2+, Zn2+ or a metalloorganic molecule called a coenzyme. (Lehninger 4th Edition) Enzymes are classified into six classes each with sub classes based on the type of reaction catalyzed. Thus our enzyme of interest Phosphoribosylpyrophosphate (PRPP) Synthetase (Prs) belongs to the class Transferases catalyzing group transfer reactions with its Enzyme Commission Number as 2.7.6.1. (Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man, 2010) Phosphoribosylpyrophosphate synthetase (Prs) (or Ribose-phosphate diphosphokinase) catalyses the synthesis of phosphoribosyl pyrophosphate (PRPP), an intermediate in nucleotide metabolism for the de novo and salvage pathways of purine and pyrimidine biosynthesis and the biosynthesis of the amino acids histidine and tryptophan. One of the important specialized pathways of a number of amino acids is the synthesis of purine and pyrimidine nucleotides. The two ringed purine members Adenine, Guanine, Hypoxanthine and Xanthine and the single ringed pyrimidines namely Cytosine, Thymine, Uracil are important for a number of reasons. Most of them, not just ATP, are the sources of energy that drive most of our reactions. ATP is the most commonly used source but GTP is used in protein synthesis as well as a few other reactions. UTP is the source of energy for activating glucose and galactose. CTP is an energy source in lipid metabolism. AMP is part of the structure of some of the coenzymes like NAD and Coenzyme A. We can both synthesize them de novo and salvage and reuse those we already have.(Angstadt 1997) Metabolic contribution of PRPP to the purine biosynthesis and other anabolic pathways Source: Taken and Adapted from BMC Biotechnology (Jimenez 2008) PRPP, synthesized from ribose-5-phosphate and ATP, is therefore a key compound for purine biosynthesis, and it is also an important cellular metabolite because it represents a link between carbon and nitrogen metabolism. PRPP is a biosynthetic precursor of histidine and tryptophan, and it is also required for the de novo and salvage pathways of purine, pyrimidine and pyridine (NAD+, NADP+) nucleotides. It has been calculated that approximately 80% of the metabolic flux through PRPP is directed to purine and pyrimidine synthesis The formation of PRPP is catalyzed by the enzyme PRPP synthetase which is encoded by PRS genes Pathway of Purine nucleotide synthesis and its regulation by PRPP. Taken and adapted from (Becker, Kim et al. 1992) The PRPP is further committed to de novo purine nucleotide synthesis in a 10 step enzymatic reaction as follows: Taken From Rolfes 2006 This essay will examine the reactions that take place during the PRPP pathways and the synthesis of purine nucleotide. In microbes such as Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the inability to biosynthesize purine nucleotides leads to auxotrophy. In Drosophila, purine nucleotide synthesis is required for development and metamorphosis. In plants such as Arabidopsis and tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum), synthesis of nucleotides is developmentally regulated, whereas in the tropical legumes it plays an additional important role in nitrogen storag. In humans, disorders in the purine nucleotide biosynthetic and salvage pathways have devastating consequences, leading to disorders such as SCIDS (severe combined immunodeficiency syndrome),

Recent Global Economic crisis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6000 words

Recent Global Economic crisis - Essay Example have stories to share with my off springs, whereby, I can tell them that I have seen the world economy booming as it has been over the past few years, and then see it moving down into deep recession somewhere from the mid of 2007. I seek tremendous interest in economy and economics, and this kind of a mega event is truly something that will not be forgotten in the books for a long time. My aspiration for this ‘mess’ comes from the times when I read about the Great Depression in various text books, saw pictures of those times, read analytics and various texts related to the strategies that led to it, how the affected and concerned people and groups tried formulating strategies to move out of the ‘mess’, the failing strategies, the successful strategies and so on. Other than that, what also aspired me was how nations fell into the ‘mess’ and how the magnitude of hit varied from nation to nation. Over all, that whole era was an aspiration to me, making me think how would I react under these circumstances as a common man, as a student, as a strategy formulator or even as a nation’s head. Though not a pleasant moment, but I have been given this chance to re-live the Great Depression and get a feel of things and how the difference can be made. Globalization: Globalization is the single variable that has turned the world into a global village, and merged the economies into a global economy. Thus, globalization is a critical concept while discussing the ‘messes. Conflict: Conflicts of interest and of thoughts and ideas is what actually leads to a ‘mess’ and this one is no exception. There is a big conflict of interest in the growing wealth of an individual vs. the growing wealth of a nation, as certain portion of the former has to be sacrificed as taxes for a nation, and as interest for banks to keep moving, as an example. National taxes are proportional to the wealth, but bank interest is similar to a clock that keeps ticking, irrespective of the

What does the bible mean to me Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

What does the bible mean to me - Essay Example w the bible differently but I believe it to be a sacred collection of books that Christians use as a reference to God’s command during their worship as well as in their lifestyles. It provides the means of communication with God the creator who Christians believe is supernatural and whom they revere. The bible directs man on the kind of life that he should live. It is God’s way of instructing, encouraging and correcting Christians, as well as making his plan known to them. Moreover, it explains the destiny of man in the life after death, consistent with the life that one lived. The bible connects the reader with God at a deeper level so that the communication is one on one with the help of the Holy Spirit who is described in the bible as Christians’ intercessor before God. In order for the fellowship of man with God to manifest fully, it is essential to have the Holy Spirit’s intervention since the sinful nature of man separates him from God who in His nature is Holy. This is well outlined in the scripture in Isaiah 59:1-12. I consider the bible to be a very vital holy book in the life of a Christian since it gives him/her reference for their lives and enables them to connect to God and this way, they are able to know His will and purpose for their lives. As mentioned earlier, the bible clearly states the kind of life that man should live while on earth and his ultimate fate after death consistent with the life that he chose to live. Everyone should therefore seek to know the bible and obey the commands

Sexual Assualt in the US Prisons Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Sexual Assualt in the US Prisons - Dissertation Example This assault is perpetrated on males, females and even illegal immigrants housed in prison facilities all over the country. In order for us to understand how this abuse occurs, we need to take a close look at the US prison systems, penal laws, and statutes, evaluate the problem, and analyze the efficiency of measures taken by the government to curb sexual assaults inside US prisons. Many ordinary individuals have heard detailed stories in the media especially the newspapers about prisoners being beaten by guards with batons, fired at unnecessarily with guns or raped and abused by prison officers. (World Report 2000) Authorities have found out that the penal facilities in almost every state in America are replete with such abuse. A federal court, for instance, came to a conclusion that the rate and number of "wholly unnecessary physical aggression" committed by guards in Texas prison facilities mirrored a "culture of sadistic and malicious violence" exhibited in those facilities. Violence and other forms of harassment perpetrated by prisoners against each other are even more of an everyday occurrence. Authorities and independent groups estimated that more than 70 percent of prison inmates are assaulted and abused by their fellow inmates every year. Almost yearly, the incidences of violence and abuse in American prisons continue to escalate. Near the turn of the c entury for instance in 1998, 79 prisoners were killed and thousands more suffered severe injuries (The Corrections Yearbook 1998). The previous year of 1997, 10 percent of inmates across the states and 3 percent of inmates housed in federal facilities were reported severely injured in scuffles and brawls since they have entered prisons. The New York state prisons systems have recognized the prevalence of this problem and stated that the "extraordinary amount of crime committed in state prisons annually merely shifts the locus of criminal activity away from neighborhoods to correctional facilities† For the experts and authorities, street gangs have merely moved territories from the streets into the penal facilities.

Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon - Movie Review Example Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon From the Chinese cultural perspective, the theme of enlightenment refers to the empowerment and mastery into many realms, and in the context of this film, it involves detaching human attachments and achieving emptiness. This theme manifests through the two main characters of Li. The film contrasts the reality of human attachments and its significance in life with that of the emptiness which can lead to enlightenment. That is, the film views the human life as an illusion and detachment as the ultimate way to enlightenment. In the film, Li mentions his attachment to the world as an illusion thereby implying the need for emptiness for attaining the real enlightenment. According to this concept of emptiness, once a person is able to see or feel nothing of the world, then he/she can truly possess the things that are real, which would pave the way for enlightenment. This concept is similarly focused in the film, The Matrix, which represents enlightenment in a modern sci-fi dimension. The f ilm relies on the doctrine of Sunyata, or emptiness, which means everything in the world undergo constant suffering and so breaking free from it facilitates the soul to become enlightened. The director gracefully features the theme of love and even embraces a gentle romantic humanism as a result of failing emptiness. Although, as above-discussed emptiness can lead to enlightenment, when there are love feelings or attachments then emptiness is not possible thereby impeding enlightenment as well.

Seaworld Water Conservation in Sanantoino Essay Example for Free

Seaworld Water Conservation in Sanantoino Essay Many of us have been to water parks/ theme parks and probably never thought about how much water is being used. I especially have been intrigued with the fact that San Antonio has a Seaworld, because the other cities that have one are San Diego and Orlando. San Diego and Orlando both are by many beaches and land of water compared to San Antonio. So to me I felt that San Antonio having a Seaworld would have a major impact on our city water supply. How much water does Seaworld consume and or try to conserve? I talked to Melissa, an educator at Seaworld, and she discussed with me that several of Seaworld’s management had already developed the park’s Water Conservation Plan and had submitted the plan to the San Antonio Water System. The drought restrictions for San Antonio are quit stringent. Many of the restrictions, however, are everyday practices for their park. Under restrictions, water waste is prohibited; Melissa quoted, â€Å" At Seaworld we are always watching how our water is being used and we are always finding new ways to reuse our water or reduce consumption. I also found out that the park reduces their landscape watering by about 20% in their formal park area, and their back area of the park goes without water. Another way the park conserve water is by collecting water condensation from air conditioning units in two condensation tanks found in back areas of the park. The water collected in these tanks is used to irrigate landscaping throughout the park and is also used to pressure wash pathways. Low-flow toilets have been installed in the park restrooms to reduce the amount of waste water used. In addition to conservation reclaimed water is used to water the plants and grass at Seaworld. They’ve also cut their monthy water use from eight million gallons to four million gallons in the last three years, according to Wade from the NPR organization,who had wrote an article about recycled water in San Antonio. When Shamu splashes the lower rows with fountains of water from his 5 million gallon tank, the water that looks like its going the drain is actually headed for capture. In fact, Seaworld has built its own on-site water filtration system. Seaworld San Antonio has made conservation a top priority over the years and are continuously working on innovative ways to improve the environment. The team at the park workhard every year to improve and reduce the park’s overall energy consumption through water and energy cconservation, sustainability and recycling. In 2009 they were presented with â€Å" Going Green Award† in the Conservation Program category by the San Antonio Business Journal. The award program recognizes individuals, companies and programs making an effort to save our planet. The parks water and energy conservation and recycling efforts were key factors in winning this award. As important as conservation is, whats really saving San Antonio right now is its aquifer-storage system. During times when the rains are plenty and the Edwards Aquifer is full, San Antonio aggressively pumps the water out and stores it forty miles away in a sand formation called the Carrizo. Nobody knows how much water the Carrizo could ultimately store, perhaps as much as sixty-five billion gallons. Now, in the midst of this devastating drought, the Carrizo’s massive pumps are sending this rainy day water back to the thirsty city from whence it came. I talked with Jeff, director of production, and he stated that he feels it’s a huge benefit and that it cuts down on the amount of water that San Antonio uses from the Edwards during a critical time , which is good for the entire region. San Antonio’s approach to its water has saved it in the past but like Wlliam Alley discusses in his essay, Tracking U. S.  Groundwater, no one knows how much water is actually available. Its all estimates. Its almost impossible to keep record of and exact figure when it comes to water consumption. Alley goes to explain how the aquifer can be estimated more accurately than global ground water. So the Carrizo obtains most of its water from rain. If the rain don’t come, San Antonio and the rest of Texas are going to learn what the word â€Å"drought† really means. Seaworld San Antonio does not have a major impact on the city water supply. Karen the water system’s director of conservstion stated that seaworld amongst other customers have helped them reach their goal to save a billion gallons of water every single year. Like Mark Holston, the author of â€Å"Where Has All The Water Gone†, discusses how water is being reused to our benenfit. That to me is where the Carizzo comes into play for the city and the main ways Seaworld reuses water as well. Both ways have helped the community figure out that it is better to save watere than to worry about having to always just acquire more water.

An Introduction To Distance Learning

An Introduction To Distance Learning Distance learning is a form of education which has been created with the aim of delivering education among those students who are not able to attend regular school due to various reasons. It can also be defined as a education system to create as well as offer access to learning in a situation where the source of education and learner are away from each other because of time and distance. In brief, we can say that distance learning is an ideal way to offer education of equal quality to meet the educational requirement of a learner outside the classroom. This method of education is being adopted by a huge number of universities and institutes around the world. If the status of distance learning is considered then we will find that though it is not as such very old phenomenon here but there is no doubt to the fact that it has been accepted wholeheartedly here and a great number of students in India are getting themselves enrolled for numerous course via distance learning. Roughly, we can count about 11 universities and about 54 institutions which are offering distance learning programs and the number is still on increase. Types of Technologies Used in Distance Education: One of the best ways to categorize the different types of distance education is by deciding whether the teacher and learner are present at the same time irrespective of the distance of time and place. In other words, when teaching and learning take place simultaneously, then this situation is termed as a synchronous which means at the same time. On the other hand, when the teacher and learner participate as per convenience of his time, then it is termed as an asynchronous situation which as the situation indicates means not at the same time. The term hybrid course is often used in distance learning programs. Actually, this term is the blend of both synchronous and asynchronous which means that it includes distance learning and face to face meeting as well. This situation is organized in a way that the teacher offers certain hours to his disciple where the latter is available at the same time by different means such as email, instant messages, telephone or video calling. Different Technologies Used in Synchronous Situation: Interactive Television: This method is often offered by the teacher and the student can join some nearest facility and be a part of a group using television as a means of connecting them. Web Conferencing: Here the learners make use of computers with web cam and microphone attached. In this technology, the teacher and the learner are not only able to see and talk with each other but they can also share documents as well. A good range of proprietary systems make it successful means of studying like Blackboard, WebCT, Adobe Connect and OnSync. Video Chat: It can be said as a shrink version of Web conferencing as it has fewer features available compared to the former. Different Technologies Used in Asynchronous Situation: In this situation, the teacher prepares his own time and the students take part in time when the time is suited to them. However, at times one has to be there within a specified time frame. This objective is achieved by using various means such as: There are certain online learning platforms like Ed2go where students are required to complete the work told and at times they have to perform self-assessment too. The teachers can be available via Ed2go but it is not so via all systems. Correspondence Courses: This method is in use before the other methods of distance education appeared in India. These courses can be done using email or Fax and also the postal service. But the idea remains same here too which is the work is completed by the student and sent to the teacher for assessment. Types of Distance Learning Courses: Internet conducted course which is based on ones choice for synchronous, asynchronous or Hybrid Broadcast Course: Here television or radio is used as means. Usually television programs are included into curriculum other than educational program which take place when the teacher and student are present face to face. For example: taped demo of the content etc. students are helped by the teachers and the project report are sent to the teachers. Courses Based on Internet: These types of courses are evolved in the internet environment using various means such as e-books, e-mail chats, asynchronous forums or mailing lists to name few. Moreover, the internet based courses can be easily blended with other distance learning courses mentioned above. Thus, we can conclude the distance learning courses in the under mentioned basic forms: Authors Course in Varying Topics Postgraduate Programs as well as Varying Staff Evolvement Programs University Course for Campus Students University Course meant for the students at the secondary and high school level Course in Specialized Fields Business Oriented Courses The Most Eligible Students for Distance Learning: Learners in different situations can take advantage of distance learning. Some fo these situations include: People who find it hard to leave home due to various reasons can be benefitted from distance education. It allows them to get the degree even in their confinement. Workers for those it is not possible to attend the local class which is scheduled for a fix time. By distance learning, they can arrange their timings are per their convenience. Home schoolers who though are enrolled in a school but who wish to increase their local opportunities by option for educational classes by taking the help of distance education. Distance learning is best for would-be students. It means students who live away from an institution offering t he course of their choice or in other words, the course/program they are willing to take is not offered by college or institution near their home. Even prisoners might be able to access to studies using different types of distance learning programs. Students who are not able to attend physical schools because of huge expense will also find it cheaper way to get their degree in distance learning. There are students who remain in search of just refresher on a specific subject but not complete course. Reasons to Opt for Distance Learning Education: Almost all students around the world are well-aware of the huge benefits of getting their studies done via distance learning. Some of the prominent benefits of distance learning include: Study is Not Restricted by Time and Place: Distance learning allows you to study wherever you wish. As we all know, internet is the basic need of todays education and it is an integral part of distance learning. So, if you have got internet connection then it means that the entire world is your classroom and your education objectives are no more restricted in geographical boundaries. You can study from your home or even office to as per your choice. No Time Restrictions: Similar to eddy where you wish, you can also study at any time whenever you find it convenient. Due to asynchronous learning, you can make use of your computers at any time of the day and have access to your study material that is in the form of videotaped lectures, research materials, chat rooms etc. it must not be amusing if you are able to get your Masters or even PhDs done via distance learning programs. Customization of College Degree as Per Ones Specific Needs: No doubt, education is very important but there are a huge number of students who have to juggle with other commitments too. Students who are working to meet these commitments such as caring for others or traveling frequently find it hard or almost impossible to join some local school or college with scheduled time. In addition to this, those who like to learn independently also find distance learning appealing. Someone-else can Pay on Your Behalf: Distance learning programs get more attractive when many employers are ready to pat a certain part or even all of their tuition fees. In this situation which better be termed as win-win situation, on one side employers are able to hire employees with increased knowledge or skill and employees are able to get higher degree without spending with a meager amount or no money at all and also are not required to reduce their working hours. Getting Degree Faster: Generally, it is possible to obtain degree faster in online course or programs compared to campus counterparts. It is due to the fact that online classes are often take place hurriedly and thus enabling one to finish their classes in less time. Also, if you have transferable credits in your favor from some other institution, you can easily make your course completion time via distance learning even lesser. Obviously, the faster you will have your degree in your hand; the chances will be more to grab a job or salary of your choice. Allow you to Build New Skills: It is certain that you get your degree via distance learning program; you must have to build certain skills which are needed to meet the requirements of distance learning programs. You are supposed to have a great deal of motivation, responsibility and making best of your time available. So, you get the skills like self-discipline and the ability to learn on your own and these skills thereafter transfer to your work place. In case, your course work is too be submitted through computers, then it will also result in your improved writing skills. Courses Offered in Distance Learning in India: The universities offering distance learning in India is administered by the Distance Education Council of India (DEC). This organization is based in the capital. The distance learning course offered in India can be divided under the number of disciplines such as Arts, Science and Commerce. Both undergraduates and post graduates can be pursued via distance learning programs in India in addition to numerous diploma courses. List of Undergraduate course which have been included in distance learning programs in India include: Bachelor of Arts (English, History, Psychology, Hindi, Sanskrit and Sociology) Bachelor of Commerce Bachelor of Science (Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Zoology and Economics) Bachelor of Library Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) In addition to these courses, students can also get Advanced Diploma, Diploma, Post Graduate Diploma and Certificate Courses at a number of institutes offering the option of distance learning in Indian States. Indian States Offering Distance Learning Programs/Course: Some of the prominent Indian states which offer distance learning comprise New Delhi, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat just to name few. In real, often it is open universities that provide distance learning programs/courses. In addition to open universities in the country, there are other leading state universities which offer distance learning course. some of these universities comprise University of Delhi, University of Mumbai, Punjab University and Hyderabad University. Other universities also have separate department for distance education in Indian states. In upshot, it can be said that the trend of getting higher education or degrees is on increase day by day and it is expected to keep on going in future too with much more option available to the learners with more advanced technologies included in it. It is also crystal clear that distance learning is not an option of getting education for those only who cannot afford physical schools or campuses but it is equally famous among urban people too. It is due to the fact that distance learning offers them various opportunities to polish their skills and get higher degrees needed to move on to the higher designations. They can move on to the higher post without leaving their current job and are able to carry on their studies without quitting their jobs. In addition to this, most of the course or programs available in distance learning are related to current industry, so these courses prove highly beneficial with simple method of taking admissions into these courses no matter where you are.

Biography: Martin Luther King Jr

Biography: Martin Luther King Jr Martin Luther King, Jr., (January 15, 1929-April 4, 1968) was born Michael Luther King, Jr., but later had his name changed to Martin. His grandfather began the familys long tenure as pastors of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, serving from 1914 to 1931; his father has served from then until the present, and from 1960 until his death Martin Luther acted as co-pastor. Martin Luther attended segregated public schools in Georgia, graduating from high school at the age of fifteen; he received the B. A. degree in 1948 from Morehouse College, a distinguished Negro institution of Atlanta from which both his father and grandfather had graduated. After three years of theological study at Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania where he was elected president of a predominantly white senior class, he was awarded the B.D. in 1951. With a fellowship won at Crozer, he enrolled in graduate studies at Boston University, completing his residence for the doctorate in 1953 and receiving the degree in 1955. In Boston he met and married Coretta Scott, a young woman of uncommon intellectual and artistic attainments. Two sons and two daughters were born into the family. In 1954, Martin Luther King became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. Always a strong worker for civil rights for members of his race, King was, by this time, a member of the executive committee of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the leading organization of its kind in the nation. He was ready, then, early in December, 1955, to accept the leadership of the first great Negro nonviolent demonstration of contemporary times in the United States, the bus boycott described by Gunnar Jahn in his presentation speech in honor of the laureate. The boycott lasted 382 days. On December 21, 1956, after the Supreme Court of the United States had declared unconstitutional the laws requiring segregation on buses, Negroes and whites rode the buses as equals. During these days of boycott, King was arrested, his home was bombed, he was subjected to personal abuse, but at the same time he emerged as a Negro leader of the first rank. In 1957 he was elected president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization formed to provide new leadership for the now burgeoning civil rights movement. The ideals for this organization he took from Christianity; its operational techniques from Gandhi. In the eleven-year period between 1957 and 1968, King traveled over six million miles and spoke over twenty-five hundred times, appearing wherever there was injustice, protest, and action; and meanwhile he wrote five books as well as numerous articles. In these years, he led a massive protest in Birmingham, Alabama, that caught the attention of the entire world, providing what he called a coalition of conscience. and inspiring his Letter from a Birmingham Jail, a manifesto of the Negro revolution; he planned the drives in Alabama for the registration of Negroes as voters; he directed the peaceful march on Washington, D.C., of 250,000 people to whom he delivered his address, l Have a Dream, he conferred with Pres ident John F. Kennedy and campaigned for President Lyndon B. Johnson; he was arrested upwards of twenty times and assaulted at least four times; he was awarded five honorary degrees; was named Man of the Year by Time magazine in 1963; and became not only the symbolic leader of American blacks but also a world figure. At the age of thirty-five, Martin Luther King, Jr., was the youngest man to have received the Nobel Peace Prize. When notified of his selection, he announced that he would turn over the prize money of $54,123 to the furtherance of the civil rights movement. On the evening of April 4, 1968, while standing on the balcony of his motel room in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was to lead a protest march in sympathy with striking garbage workers of that city, he was assassinated. Autobiography He was a husband, a father, a preacher-and the preeminent leader of a movement that continues to transform America and the world. Martin Luther King, Jr., was one of the twentieth centurys most influential men and lived one of its most extraordinary lives. Now, in a special volume commissioned and authorized by his family, here is the life and times of Martin Luther King, Jr., drawn from a comprehensive collection of writings, recordings, and documentary materials, many of which have never before been made public. Written in his own words, this history making autobiography is Martin Luther King: the mild-mannered, inquisitive child and student who chafed under and eventually rebelled against segregation; the dedicated young minister who continually questioned the depths of his faith and the limits of his wisdom; the loving husband and father who sought to balance his familys needs with those of a growing, nationwide movement; and the reflective, world-famous leader who was fired by a vision of equality for people everywhere. Articles King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference In his role as SCLC president, Martin Luther King Jr. traveled across the country and around the world, giving lectures on nonviolent protest and civil rights as well as meeting with religious figures, activists and political leaders. (During a month-long trip to India in 1959, he had the opportunity to meet Gandhi, the man he described in his autobiography as the guiding light of our technique of nonviolent social change.) In 1960 King and his family moved to Atlanta, his native city, where he joined his father as co-pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church. This new position did not stop King and his SCLC colleagues from becoming key players in many of the most significant civil rights battles of the 1960s. Their philosophy of nonviolence was put to a particularly severe test during the Birmingham campaign of 1963, in which activists used a boycott, sit-ins and marches to protest segregation, unfair hiring practices and other injustices in one of Americas most racially divided cities. Arrested for his involvement on April 12, King penned the civil rights manifesto known as the Letter from Birmingham Jail, an eloquent defense of civil disobedience addressed to a group of white clergymen who had criticized his tactics. King Marches for Freedom Later that year, Martin Luther King Jr. worked with a number of civil rights and religious groups to organize the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, a peaceful political rally designed to shed light on the injustices African Americans continued to face across the country. Held on August 28 and attended by some 200,000 to 300,000 participants, the event is widely regarded as a watershed moment in the history of the American civil rights movement and a factor in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The march culminated in Kings most famous address, known as the I Have a Dream speech, a spirited call for peace and equality that many consider a masterpiece of rhetoric. Standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial-a monument to the president who a century earlier had brought down the institution of slavery in the United States-he shared his vision of a future in which this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.' The speech and March cemented Kings reputation at home and abroad; later that year he was named Man of the Year by TIME magazine and in 1964 became the youngest person ever awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In the spring of 1965, Kings elevated profile drew international attention to the violence that erupted between white segregationists and peaceful demonstrators in Selma, Alabama, where the SCLC and Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) had organized a voter registration campaign. Captured on television, the brutal scene outraged many Americans and inspired supporters from across the country to gather in Selma and take part in a march to Montgomery led by King and supported by President Lyndon Johnson (1908-1973), who sent in federal troops to keep the peace. That August, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act, which guaranteed the right to vote-first awarded by the 15th Amendment-to all African Americans. Adapted from the New York Times. April 5, 1968. Jan. 15, 1929 to April 4, 1968 Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But Im not concerned about that now. I just want to do Gods will. And Hes allowed me to go up to the mountain. And Ive looked over. And Ive seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land! With these words, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. built a crescendo to his final speech on April 3, 1968. The next day, the civil rights leader was shot and killed on a balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn. At the roots Dr. Kings civil rights convictions was an even more profound faith in the basic goodness of man and the great potential of American democracy. These beliefs gave to his speeches a fervor that could not be stilled by criticism. He rose in 1955 from a newly arrived minister in Montgomery, Ala. to a figure of national prominence. It was Dr. King who dramatized the Montgomery bus boycott with his decision to make it the testing ground, before the eyes of the nation, of his belief in the civil disobedience teachings of Thoreau and Gandhi. Dr. King was involved in one of his greatest plans to dramatize the plight of the poor and stir Congress to help blacks. He called his venture the Poor Peoples Campaign. Skills and Behavior of Martin Luther King, Jr Leader must be a visionary and dare to follow that vision: At a time when African Americans had to sit on designated seats on the bus, King dream of an America that would rise above color and creed. I am sure he faced the wrath of countless naysayers who thought that was Utopian and would never ever happen and look where we are today? The ability to DREAM and follow that VISION is a powerful attribute and history shows that some of the great leaders were even greater visionaries. If King didnt dream of equal civic rights, we wouldnt be living in a society where cultural differences are celebrated; if Steve Jobs were to listen to us and only build computers, we wouldnt have revolutionary innovation like the iPhone Leader must Be an effective communicator to build a movement: To this day when I listen to Martin Luther Kings I have a dream speech, I am filled with a sense of emotion that inspires me to Stop complaining and Do something productive. Thats the power of effective communication. Kings theatrical skills surely served as an explosion to build the Civil Rights movement Leader must Be inspired and inspire to pursue new directions: One of my favorite Martin Luther King quotes is, If you cant fly then run, if you cant run then walk, if you cant walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward. In order to move forward no matter what the situation, one needs a perennial source of inspiration and a good leader is who has the ability to be inspired and also inspire his/her followers. Be willing to walk the talk: Martin Luther King travelled over six millions miles and gave over 2,500 speeches to fight for civil rights. Thats called literally walking the talk. The vision, the great speech, the inspiration would all fall flat if at the end of the day, as a leader you cant walk the talk. Big dreams, big innovation, big campaigns and big ideas also rely on big execution. The willingness and ability to wear the execution hat and get your hands dirty is a great support that my leader can walk the talk. Qualities As a leadership qualities king have a following qualities Patience: It wasnt one speech that put an end to segregation in the United States. It wasnt one march, one demonstration, one sit-in. It was multiple attempts on various accounts that finally got the message out there. Martin Luther King, Jr. had to have patience throughout this time if he truly wanted to succeed. He knew that things wouldnt change overnight-and you need to know this, too. Be patient with your startup-let it grow in increments each and every day. You will achieve your dream, it just takes time to get there Bravery: Obviously, it took mass amounts of courage to stand up to thousands, even millions, of people and state his dream. But Martin Luther King, Jr. made it known that what he wanted was equality and that he would fight till the end to see it through. Leadership: Martin Luther King, Jr was the one that took the leadership position during the fight for equality. He was the one that stepped up to the plate when no one else would and found the answers to everybodys questions Determination: Even from the confines of Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King, Jr. did not stop fighting for what he believed in. When the world was against him, he didnt take breaks. Trustworthiness: Those who followed Martin Luther King, Jr. trusted him with every bone in their bodies. They had full confidence that he would be the one to put a stop to discrimination and segregation. Context: King was a master of establishing the historical context for his message. He regularly started with stories from the Old Testament and modern history to make the point that the people in his movement were part of the broad sweep of history. That imbued them with a sense of mission Practice: Its well known that King delivered most of the I Have a Dream speech without any notes and that he improvised much of it on the spot. Whats not as well known is that he had been working with much of the content of that speech in other addresses he gave months and years before the March on Washington Repetition: King was also a master of using a simple, yet key phrase like I have a dream, again and again in his speeches. That kind of repetitive structure enabled him to clearly make his main point and at the same time make it easy for the audience to come along with him Authenticity: King clearly met that definition of leadership. When he spoke, he told that story. Everyone in the audience knew that he was living that story before and after the speech. Criticism on Martin Luther King, Jr

Analysis of The Lost Children of Wilder by Nina Bernstein Essay

Analysis of The Lost Children of Wilder by Nina Bernstein â€Å"The Lost Children of Wilder† is a book about how the foster care system failed to give children of color the facilities that would help them lead a somewhat normal and protected life. The story of Shirley Wilder is a sad one once you find out what kind of life she had to live when she was a young girl. Having no mother and rejected by her father she has become a troubled girl. Shirley Wilder was rejected from foster care because she was black. The system failed to place children of color into these homes because they weren’t white, Catholic, or Jewish. I cannot even believe that this went on years ago. Just because you are of a different race meant that you could not benefit from the system. This is absolutely ridiculous that children could not get the proper care and supervision that they needed. One example of race discrimination is of a girl from my town. She was not able to go to our local swim club because she was black. I know this has nothing to do with foster care but both of her parents died and she was adopted by a white family whom she babysat for. They wanted to take her to the swim club but she was rejected because she was black. She sued the club and was awarded $200,000. I think she was lucky to have gotten the money but nothing can undo what it feels like to be discriminated against. â€Å"Under New York’s Family Court Act, treatment was the legal justification for taking troubled children in...

The Great Expectations of Human Nature Essay -- Great Expectations Es

The Great Expectations of Human Nature Charles Dickens used Great Expectations as a forum for presenting his views of human nature. This essay will explore friendship, generosity, love, cruelty and other aspects of human nature presented by Dickens over 100 years ago. Friendship was one of the human characteristics Dickens enjoyed. Herbert was a true friend to Pip. Moving to London would have been stressful if Herbert had not eased Pip's transition into the city. Herbert informed Pip of Miss Havisham's story when no one else would tell it. When Magwitch arrived and mortified Pip, Herbert was there discuss what was to be done. Herbert was an integral part in the design and implementation of Magwitch's escape. Herbert even saved Pip's life from Orlick's powerful grasp. By associating fellowship with good characters and deeds, Dickens made it known that he admired friendships. Another human characteristic which Dickens appreciated was generosity. This trait appeared in Magwitch and Pip. Magwitch , the starved convict, was forever grateful to Pip for bringing him food in the opening of the book. Magwitch repaid Pip's kindness by opening a door to the young man's dreams. Pip suspected his dear friend, Herbert, would never become prosperous so Pip took some of the money he was receiving from Magwitch and used it as a stipend in Herbert's behalf. By doing this, Pip precipitated Herbert becoming a partner in a prosperous business. Having characters donate money and benefit from it, Dickens conveyed the goodness of generosity. To Dickens, the most noble of human characte... ...me to visit Pip in London, Pip was embarrassed to know him. If Pip "could have kept him away by paying money, [Pip] certainly would have paid money." After years of Joe's friendship and loving care, Pip thought of paying him not to visit. At the end of the novel, Pip learned what an unappreciative person he had been to Joe and asked his forgiveness. Dickens presented this piece of human nature well enough to create sympathy for Joe and all parents who receive ingratitude from their children. Dickens used his characters to convey his thoughts of human nature - good and bad. Dickens believed if he could present both sides of humanity to the public, people would try to better themselves. Dickens hated the Victorian society in which he was bound, and he turned to the pen to alter his bete noire.

Nineteenth Century Short Stories Essay

The highly censored and controlled Victorian society contained a large contrast, with a small proportion of the rich-elite, composed often of aristocrats and judges. The majority however, was extremely poor, often struggling to provide for their families let alone themselves. In the strictness of life at the time, many people delved into stories of the more humorous and less controlled sides of life. Authors did not put their characters into regular, day-to-day scenarios that would seem rather dull and boring, but created light, dramatically complex narratives that involved people in desperate situations, such as the man that must choose between three women hiding in his truck. In the first story, ‘Tony Kytes, Arch Deceiver’ by Thomas Hardy, a young man is in a situation in which he must choose a woman to marry, being the only attractive young man in this village, he has a lot of control and authority over these women. Throughout the story, the women are portrayed as gullible and desperate, as we see in the climax of the story in which three different women are hiding in the same car. In the end of the story, Tony loses control and seems to be less in command of the situation and becomes manipulated by the three women who are competing with each other in order to secure Tony as a husband. The women finally find out that they have all been promised to become Tony’s wife, and Unity and Hannah leave, pretending to be strong women who are unaffected by this heart-breaking situation. Tony is left with Milly, to which he proclaims ‘†¦It does seem as if fate had ordained it that it should be you and I, or nobody, and what must be must be†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ This line is very important as it links in with the theme of fate which applies to the other stories. The next story is called ‘Old Mrs. Chundle’ by Thomas Hardy. It portrays and old woman who is very separated from the rest of her village. The author states that she has never even ventured past the next town from hers. One day, Mrs. Chundle is visited by the Curate who asks her for some food. Mrs. Chundle refuses to sit next to the curate, saying ‘Oh, faith, I don’t want to eat with my betters- not I’. The Curate persuades Mrs. Chundle to go to church; she tells him that she is nearly deaf and would not be able to hear anything. Throughout the rest of the story, we see the curate create various devices in an attempt to get Mrs. Chundle to go to church. However, Mrs. Chundle is forced to rely on the Curate until he eventually leads her to her death when she runs up the hill to get to church on time. The final story, the Stolen Bacillus by H.G Wells, tells us the story of an anarchist who visits a bacteriologist. During the visit, the sheer potential of the destruction caused by the bacteria that he witnesses sparks his anarchy, impelling the young man to steal a batch of the perceptually dangerous bacteria, thinking that he could destroy an entire city with its unfathomable power. The scientist and his wife pursue the man through the streets of London in informal clothes, onlooker cheer thinking this is fast fuelled race, this also gives us the impression that this bacteria is very dangerous. The anarchist stops and the scientists think it’s too late. The final twist in the ending of the story is that the man drinks the virus thinking that he has now gained the ability to destroy the entire country through the power of cholera, but instead he drank a special bacterium that is used to turn monkeys blue. In the same story, the Anarchist is portrayed as a confused but clever man that wants to cause as much devastation and destruction as possible to society. He quotes ‘†¦.those mere atomies, might multiply and devastate a city! Wonderful!’ From this you can clearly see that this man’s objectives are to cause as much destruction as possible to the city. A ‘†¦.slight gleam of satisfaction appeared on the pale man†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ after he at living cultures of this bacterium, with the author stating that ‘†¦morbid pleasure†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ appeared from the man as he was inspected by the scientist. This makes the reader aware that this man has not come to learn about bacteria, but rather to find out how to use them to cause devastation. The way the bacteriologist is portrayed is also important, as he believes that it is a burden to keep that bacteria once muttering, ‘†¦..I am obliged to †¦.’ .The message verbalised by the author is that people should be judged by their appearance if you do not know them and that we should never underestimate the power of nature. The main character in Old Mrs. Chundle is clearly old Mrs. Chundle. Mrs Chundle is an old, deaf woman, who is clearly quite happy living on her own, she has never ventured past the nearest town in her whole life. One day, she is visited by the curate who asks her for some food. It is then revealed to us that she is nearly deaf and has trouble hearing people. The curator asks her why she does not go to church and she explains her condition. Throughout the story, the Curate attempts to help her by thinking of various ways she would be able to hear the church services. In the end of the story, Mrs. Chundle is let down by the curate who promised to come over and read to her. The main character in Thomas Hardy’s story is obviously Tony Kytes, he is described as ‘†¦ ‘Twas a little, round, firm, tight face, with a seam here and there left by smallpox’ but this was not enough to ‘†¦hurt his looks in a woman’s eye†¦.’ He was the ‘women’s favourite’ and loved all of them. He was highly involved with ‘all the rest of the scandalous stuff’ and told to us by the author. The message from the story is clearly ‘Looks can be deceiving’ and that you cannot change fate. The relationships between the author and narrator’s attitudes towards women in ‘arch deceiver’ clearly shows us that at the time, mean were quite sexist towards women and believed that all of them were desperate and would do anything to get married, such as in this story where they fight over an clearly dishonest man. The main relationship in Old Mrs. Chundle is the relationship between here and the curate. It is a very strange relationship due to the fact that as soon as the curate came into Mrs. Chundle’s life she dies. However we can see that the curate has helped Mrs. Chundle die happy as she managed to hear the word of God. All of the stories I have mentioned contain unexpected endings which add humour or sadness into the stories. Thomas Hardy’s novels both contain very different endings. In ‘Arch Deceiver’, the ending was expected as we knew that nothing good would happen at the end of the situation that Tony was in. After a large argument between Tony and the three women at his house, the women leave and Milly is left to marry Tony. He tries to worm his way out of the situation that he has gotten himself in by saying that it was fate that they would get married. In his other story, Old Mrs. Chundle, the Curate breaks a promise he had made with the rector saying â€Å"She’s probably forgotten by this time that you promised.† The Curate eventually goes so Mrs. Chundle doesn’t get angry with him, and finds out that she has died. In the story by H.G. Wells, the twist would have seemed humorous at the time but the overall effect of the story has decreased over time. The twist is that after the anarchist drank the bacteria, thinking that he would cause immeasurable devastation, he begins to turn blue. The twist is not very effective and is quite stupid, which is quite unexpected from an author as great as H.G Wells. In conclusion, I believe that the narrative with the best use of drama through language was the stolen bacillus, this is because Wells can clearly describe to us what is happening, and it is told in a way which sounds realistic. The story with the best relationships is Old Mrs. Chundle as we are told the story of an old woman who died as soon as there were new influences in her life. The story with the best ending is the Stolen Baccilus as it was the most unexpected. Wells uses language in such a way that makes you believe that the anarchist would succeed, although the ending is stupid, it was the most surprising and contained a strange twist.

Investment and Risk Tolerance Essay

Question 1: How do the concepts of behavioral finance create opportunities for HelloWallet? The current financial advising sites such as HelloWallet as well as its competitors, such as Mint.com and Yodlee, provide budget and virtual financial advising service based purely on user bank transactions and spending category. The HelloWallet system allows the user to create and track customized budget plan. What is more important is that the system can automatically provide financial advice and saving tips by using data mining techniques. However, HelloWallet and its competitors do not provide any financial analysis and evaluation based on user behavior and their psychographic characteristics, such as user personality, values, attitudes, interests and risk tolerance in terms of willingness. These psychographic classifications are extremely relevant with regards to individual strategy and risk tolerance. Even with the similar bank transactions data and spending category, an investor background, past experience, personality and attitudes can make investment process unique for each individual. With the help of behavior finance theory, HelloWallet can build system to fit psychographic profiles to specific behavioral investor profile. As a result, a better understanding of user behavioral tendencies of spending and investment will help to provide better financial advice. An easy and quick way is to build online questionnaire to fit each individual into different behavioral investor types. There are several models we can use, Barnewall Two-way model, Bailard, Biehl, and Kariser Five model and Pompian model. We use Pompian models as an example. The major reason for promoting Pompian is because it is less time-consuming and less complex. Therefore, it will be easy to be implemented on an online system and require less time spent on filling out the survey (as we pointed out in challenge, it is not an easy task to ask online user to fill out survey with a lot of details). Pompian model identifies four behavioral investor types based on risk tolerance and active/passive scale: passive preserver, friendly follower, independent individualist and active accumulator. It is a top down approach which is more efficient and simple by categorizing users into passive and active, then further break down into four types based on their risk tolerance. With these information, the user of HelloWallet will be categorized based on their investment/spending behavior type. Based on these different types, the system can easily provide more tailored investment tips and products to users. For example, once a user behavior type is identified, the system can provide saving and investment tips accordingly. For example, when a user is identified to be a passive preserver whose risk tolerance is low and emotional, the system provides low risk financial products (excluding high risk ones), e.g., 2-year GICs. In addition, the system can try to persuade the soundness of these financial by focusing on elaborate the goal of these investment (what the terminate value will be and what type of investors these investments for). If investor specify a long term income need, the system can provide financial products on bond index fit their spending goal (contrary to the current systems which spam non-relevant financial products to all the users without differentiate their needs and risk). With the introduce of the behavior investor/user types into the systems, HelloWallet can extend their financial advising service from purely creating budget plan and providing saving tips to a more sophisticated investment approach that fits each individual unique needs and background. For example, HelloWallet is currently able to recommend a customer to apply for a visa with $500 cash points per year because excessive spending on grocery and large cash deposit 10,000 in the checking account. With the new behavior investor model, it can recommend the same individual to invest short term money markets products if his risk tolerance is low and require short term liquidity (with a list of the products from different dealer) or it can recommend user to buy equity income mutual fund if their risk tolerance is high and has no need for the cash for the near term. Another advantage and opportunity for the HelloWallet is that behavior finance is a relatively new concept and traditional financial advisor feel uncomfortable to ask customer these psychological questions face to face. It is much easier for the user to interact with a computer to fill out the questionnaire. This will help to collect more accurate information to build solid virtual financial advisor-client relations which also benefit the HelloWallet business in the long term as clients are tend to stick to the same â€Å"advisor†(in our case a virtual financial advisor – HelloWallet) if she/he understands clients’ needs better. Question 2: How do the concepts of behavioral finance create challenges for HelloWallet? HelloWallet’s system creates customized budget plans for the users based on traditional finance and on trend analysis. This poses a challenge to HelloWallet because they do not incorporate the behavioral aspects of their clients. This will lead to creating recommendations that are not suitable to all their clients. Many models have been developed over the years to incorporate behavioral finance traits in the client’s portfolios. There are four different models that attempt to explain the behavior of individuals and their implications on portfolio construction: The Consumption and Savings Model, the Behavioral Asset Pricing Model, the Behavioral Portfolio Theory and finally the Adaptive Markets Hypothesis. Empirical studies show that some investors exhibit mental accounting where they separate their investments in different accounts in their heads and assign them to different expenses, forgetting to look at them as one portfolio. In this instance this will cause a part of HelloWallet’s target market to refrain from using their software due to this behavioral trait. Clients that have regret aversion and have been suffering from mental accounting will be too scared to adopt HelloWallet’s service out of fear of realizing that they are in financial distress. Those clients do not have a serious desire and readiness to engage in an assessment of their personal financial health; therefore it will limit HelloWallet’s penetration of this market. This intertwines with cognitive dissonance, where people avoid facing financial reality. Statistics show that a vast majority of people suffers from that. People feel discomfort from receiving information that contradicts beliefs th at are entrenched in their personalities. Therefore, not wanting to face the idea that â€Å"things may not be ok† is a huge barrier for the adoption of HelloWallet by customers. Naturally humans are prone to resistance to change. They are programmed to stay in their comfort zone and stick to what they are familiar with. Having to take advice from a computer might not be something easily accepted. Moreover, regard to HelloWallet model, clients should incorporate all of their accounts including their assets and liabilities and update them if needed. This process could be a barrier for people suffering for status quo bias. In fact, this bias is an emotional bias in which people tend to do nothing instead of making change. This will affect Hellowallet in two ways. Firstly it will prevent people from registering, as they will prefer sticking with their old traditional way of managing their finance. Secondly, it will reduce the efficiency of the company model, as people will update their data less frequently making inaccurate any outcome from model of HelloWallet. The way HelloWallet collects clients’ information is via its software online. Users input their answers to HelloWallet’s questionnaire after which they will be categorized and given a budget plan. However individual circumstances change over time, and sometimes change abruptly. As the client moves across his life stages his information should be updated and changed accordingly, but this is not the case. Therefore HelloWallet might suffer from information processing bias known as Anchoring & Adjustment Bias. This will lead to the clients’ results being anchored to assumptions and information that does not hold true anymore. In fact, the Adaptive Market Hypothesis states that adapting is actually necessary for survival; thus, changes need to be applied to the software occasionally to improve chances of meeting clients’ goals. Anchoring and adjustment bias will make it more difficult for clients to adapt. If the users have a bad experience due to this bias, HelloWallet will start losing business to its competitors. Similarly the lack of personal interaction with customers will result in uncomfortable clients that will not understand the effects of short-term deprivation in relation to the overall long-term savings outcome. The lack of personal interaction will also destroy value. The company will not be able to build and maintain a consistent approach with its clients, if they are dealing with a computer. If there is no relationship building, the client will move to the competitor or just do his budget by himself after the first negative experience. It might not be sustainable, and might prove hard to retain customer value using this approach. In addition to that, research showed that people tend to behave impatiently today but plan to act patiently in the future. This is known as self-control bias. The all point of financial planning is to be able to help client to better allocate their financial resources to meet their short-term liabilities and goals while saving for future or long terms needs. The efficiency of HelloWallet advice on personal financial planning depends on how responsive client will be to their advice. In this case, this bias could be an issue, as clients will tend to choose what they prefer (short term satisfaction) instead of what suit best to their financial situation and neglect the long term.

Ethical Analysis of Gumdrop Northern

At the conclusion of this audit, the following ethical Issues were identified: emergence to International law and treaties by exporting manufactured landmines to Afghanistan and Iran; use of substandard materials used to construct body armor; disclosing Information from the military that would prevent Injuries; and the formulated plan to send out notices under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, and severing ties to the collective bargaining agreement which resulted in 100+ employees out of work.Despite the several issues that have been identified, we are optimistic that we can implement solutions that can correct these incidents and prevent future issues from happening. Due to the magnitude of the issues that were found it is essential to get a basic understanding of business in ethics. Ethics can be perceived differently among people because it has several nuances. According to Frederica, Farrell and Farrell, The American Heritage Dictionary defines ethics as, â€Å"The study of the general nature of morals and of specific moral choices, moral philosophy, and the rules or standards governing the conduct of the members of a profession. (p. 7). This Is a good starting point to help us further understand the importance of ethical compliance. For the purpose of this memorandum, the definition that will be used is the principles, values, and standards that businesses should adhere to, to ensure it is acting within ethical standards. Furthermore, studying ethics in business is very important because ethical misconduct is a considerable concern in business throughout the world. My ethics committee and I have referenced this definition and statement through the duration of our audit, and is the foundation of our findings.Now that we have discussed the definition and importance of ethics in business, we will discuss ACH ethical Issue that was discovered in Gumdrop Northerner operations. After each ethical Issue has been addressed, we will di scuss potential solutions and our reasoning for the betterment In your short and long-term goals. Ethical Issue #1 : Ignorance to International Law and Treaties by exporting manufactured landmines to Afghanistan and Iran. This is a very dynamic issue because there is conflict of interest.This conflicts with your parent company, the Department of Defense because you are a long-term military contractor that manufactures munitions, body armor and armored vehicles for the United States military. The U. S. Litany is currently fighting in a decade-long war in the Middle East, and landmines have been common amongst the fatalities since the beginning of the war. Improvised explosive devices (Deeds) have continued to be the number one killer of United States armed forces in Afghanistan, and 60 percent of all combat- related deaths in 2011 alone were caused by Deeds (Moral, 2011).Deeds are the most common method used by insurgent groups and rebels who wage non-traditional warfare, and are des igned to kill or cause serious bodily harm. The conflict of interest that my committee and I are most concerned with is the simple fact that you are opposed to supply effective body armor to the coalition forces to protect them from explosive blasts, but you are also supplying the enemy with the essential tools that cause these aforementioned explosive blasts.This conflict of interest not only violates international law and treaty, but you are potentially responsible for deaths of uniformed personnel serving in the armed forces. It is your responsibility to behave ethically, and this has not happened by your ignorance to the law, and the endangerment you have caused to uniformed personnel. In addition, the landmines hat you sell to the Taliban and Iranian government are defective, and many of who attempted to plant the mines was killed in the process due to the faulty switches.It should also be noted that many of these deaths were children and soldiers of each respective country. Th is ignorance on every angle is unethical by all counts. The basis of this ethical issue can have a wide range of effects legally, and can have severe repercussions on corporate stakeholders. The legal effects are very straightforward. The company can potentially be taken to court to file the violation of international law, and the consequences can be severe.For example, Department of Justice lawyers are rumored to be involved where families of injured or killed service members can consult attorneys to investigate Gumdrop Northerner contributions. Furthermore, the stakeholders are also potentially at risk. Anyone who has a stake or claim in your business can be directly affected because of your negligence to law, and this can damage your reputation, which is important in keeping your contract with the Department of Defense. In addition, it can Jeopardize the future of your company.Ethical Issue #2: The Use of Substandard Materials Used in the Company's Manufacturing and Failure to Di sclose to Stakeholders It has also been brought to our attention that Gumdrop Northern has utilized substandard materials in their manufacturing. Given the nature of your business, the United States military needs state of the art body armor that has the sophistication to stop penetrating shrapnel aimed for the body. The use of substandard materials is unacceptable because the safety of our soldiers is paramount in today's war.The body armor is the primary mode of protection that protects America's sons and daughters, and the armor you are providing the U. S. Litany does not protect them to Afghanistan and Iran. The substandard material is not only limited to the personnel body armor, but it also is connected to the armored vehicles used to transport military personnel throughout the theater. It has been revealed that there is a thin sheet of steel on the underside of the vehicle that makes them extremely vulnerable to improvised explosive device explosions.This is alarming because, as previously mentioned, Deeds are among the chief causes of death of soldiers. You have structured a vehicle that is protective on the sides and top, but have ignored arguably the most important part of up-armored vehicles used in the Middle East. This also leads to the negligence of the company to disclose this information to its primary and secondary stakeholders, and failure to understand the stakeholder orientation. The failure to disclose information can cause the rescission of an agreement.In your case, the Department of Defense can void the agreement with your company and also pursue a money settlement. Also, the purpose of the stakeholder orientation is for you to understand and address the demands of a stakeholder. The U. S. Litany is your primary stakeholder and you have failed to meet their demands and standards by using substandard materials and failing to disclose this information to them. It is your responsibility along with other top managers in Gumdrop to act in a responsible manner by providing truthful information to all stakeholders.We have found in our audit that you have failed in this field, and you have not complied with ethical standards. Ethical Issue #3: The formulated plan to send out notices under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, and severing ties to the collective arraigning agreement, which resulted in 100+ employees out of work. We have found that your actions under the WARN Act are completely legal because you have acted within all the guidelines underlined in the act. Also, your plan to file for bankruptcy to reject the collective bargaining agreement is another area of concern.However, we believe it is unethical to do so because of the circumstances that you have found yourself in the aforementioned ethical issues. This issue is controversial because you are middling between the lines of ethical and legal issues. We believe that this is an unnecessary approach, and there are other venues to pursu e to resolve the issues at hand. I believe you should place significant value on your shareholders because they are primarily responsible for the day-to-day operations and ensuring your company is bringing in profit.Therefore, you should treat your people right and you can accomplish this by giving them a fair shot. If you trade seats at the table, it would seem unfair to dump them so quickly because they have families to feed, bills to pay and priorities to maintain; so we think you should do the right thing and help them in any way possible. The ethical issues hat we have identified are substantial and they can have serious potential effects on the reputation of your company and its future. With that said, we have outlined a detailed plan that we have formulated as the best for the business.Resolving the Ethical Issues: All of the issues have been put on the table and addressing possible solutions is statement of Gumdrop because this is where we believe you have failed. We suggest that a meeting is held by the Board of Directors to re-tool the mission statement of Gumdrop Northern. When all of the issues are put on the table it helps to have all eye players there to innovative think of the direction the company wants to move in. For the first ethical issue, the resolution is quite simple.We believe that Gumdrop Northern should adhere to international law and treaty by severing your ties with Afghanistan and Iran. It doesn't make sense to supply the enemy with antipersonnel ammunition, and protect the individuals fighting the enemy. Although more than half of your profits derive from these clandestine operations, it is conflicting with your interest by protecting the United States military with your manufactured products. This relationship should be terminated, and it should tie into your company's mission statement.Furthermore, it is your moral and ethical responsibility to report your shortcomings. I believe that showing integrity defines a company, and thi s can be the first step to repairing and strengthening your relationship with your stakeholders. It is also a great first step into repairing your corporate image. Moving on, the second ethical issue that we discovered is definitely a priority in addressing. The United States Military deserves the best protection because of their illnesses to volunteer their lives to fight for our freedom.Gumdrop Northern is using substandard materials when superior equipment should be used in preparing the body armor and armored vehicles. I think that the best solution to this problem is using the best equipment available to help protect the soldiers. I believe you should immediately recall all the body armor that has been issued, and rebuild the body armor that the soldiers use. This move is good for your image because it shows you have identified faults in your products, and will work relentlessly to alter it to meet military standards.You are also doing yourself a favor by telling your primary s takeholder that there are issues with your product, which is something that you have failed to do so. In addition, you should also revamp the armored vehicles that you supply to the troops. This is the primary mode of the transportation for uniformed personnel, and ensuring the safest vehicle possible should be a priority. Gumdrop Northern should provide additional sheets of metal to the bottom of the vehicle to strengthen the most vulnerable part of the vehicle. Finally, the third ethical issue can be resolved by not doing any of it.It is our belief that you should take responsibility for your actions, and slowly repair your image. I believe that taking care of your shareholders is important in business because they make sure your company is working. Therefore, the essential portion of this resolution is to own up to your mistakes and build on what you have. This solution shows ethical responsibility, and this is the focal point of this memorandum. I previously mentioned that an es sential part of this meeting is also to identify fiduciary duties of the Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Operation Officer.It is the ethical responsibilities of each of these managers to gain back the trust and confidence of the stakeholders (I. E. – United States Military). This is the best alternative that is the best for the business considering the ethical issues that were identified and the potential circumstances that were discussed. It is the right thing to fixing your problems. By owning up to your mistakes it may damage your company's problems in the short-term, but you are strengthening your company in the long run.I believe the first couple of months will be difficult because of the backlash you'll chive by showing your integrity, but with strength and perseverance, Gumdrop Northern can return to prominence. I also believe that part of repairing the company is implementing an ethics committee and appointing an individual to act as the ethics officer. I believ e this is essential because it would help prevent issues like the previously mentioned from happening in the future. It also will keep Gumdrop Northern in ethical compliance. Your company has fallen short in this area, and it should be a priority in your company's mission statement.

Benefits of Not Home Schooling Essay

Parents may have various options for choosing what kind of education that’s best for their children. The know what good be an advantage and disadvantage of sending their children to school or opted to have a home education, whatever their decision is, it would be both beneficial to parents and to their children as well. There are lots of factors that parents would choose not to send their children to school, rather to enroll them in home schooling. Some parents feel that because of the rising tuition fees and the status of public schools made parents to be alarmed and have doubts about formal schooling. Let’s take a look what are the advantages of home schooling. First, parents feel that they have the control of the kind of education their children will get. They will be able to guide their children on the activities and lessons, because they have the ability to look after their children. They also feel that it’s less stressful for children if they are not enrolled in school. Because of financial needs, parents opted to home schooling because it is less expensive, compared to private schools that continues to increase each year. Emotionally wise, People who are involved in home schooling believe that children who get their education at home enable them to develop a stronger bond between parents and children. The very fact that children will be spending more time with their parents because of being schooled in the home enriches the relationship between the generations. This is beneficial to both parents and children. Where in formal schooling, children spend more time in school and when he gets home he is pre occupied with a lot of school works that tends children to become stressed out. There are also tendencies coming from parents to pressure their children to do well in school. But let’s take a different perspective; I believe that children who are into home schooling are deprived of social interaction, especially interaction with their peers. Those who are into home schooling are confined within their houses, children needed to take some time off and interaction is very essential to the development of children in terms of social and emotional aspect. A child will develop her communication skills, social skills, and even cognitive skills because interaction leads to experience, and experience leads to knowledge. School is not solely based books but rather a learning experience. There are lot of things we can learn outside from our home, from our teachers, classmates and friends. We need to socialize and experience certain things within the context of the book in order for us to understand and learn better, theories are not there for us to just memorize rather apply it into our daily lives. Books could not be merely understood just by reading them we have to apply it even on simple things, and experience such events will enable us to learn something valuable. I truly believe that practical experience of learning will help me understand and gain knowledge better compared into being confined within our home. We can balance school and its pressure and our relationship with our parents. Yes, there may have a big gap in financial aspect but we just can’t sacrifice the kind of education we need, for education is beyond learning, it is our future.

Organizing Function at Exxon Mobil Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Organizing Function at Exxon Mobil - Essay Example Organizing Function at Exxon Mobil Specifically, the essay aims to proffer an evaluation of Exxon Mobil’s organizing function of management, as it relates to physical assets and human resources. The discourse would likewise discuss an evaluation and justification of whether Exxon has optimized these organization resources for effectiveness and efficiency, as required. Company Profile Considered as one of the world’s leader in the gas and oil industry is Exxon Mobil that boasts of being â€Å"the world's largest publicly traded international oil and gas company, providing energy that helps underpin growing economies and improve living standards around the world†. Its roots are traced 125 years ago with the drilling of the first oil well in Titusville, Pennsylvania. The company is globally entrenched â€Å"holding exploration and production acreage in 38 countries and conducting production operations in 23 countries around the world† . Human Resources According to Higgin (1994), the organizing function is â€Å"establishing the internal organizational structure of the organization. The focus is on division, coordination, and control of tasks and the flow of information within the organization. It is in this function that managers distribute authority to job holders†. Exxon Mobil’s organizational structure is designed according to a grouping of segments from units, sections, divisions, and departments that work harmoniously towards the accomplishment of organizational goals. The management team at Exxon is comprised of the chairman and chief executive officer, as well as four senior vice presidents, with one assuming the basic responsibility as treasurer. A total of eleven members of the board of directors, where 10 were considered â€Å"independent as defined by New York Stock Exchange guidelines, and all directors stand for election at our Annual Meeting of Shareholders† (Exxon: Our board of d irectors, n.d., par. 1). The global workforce that compose the organization’s executive and staff positions are revealed as â€Å"nearly 80,000 employees, of which about 37 percent were located within the United States and 63 percent internationally† (Exxon: Our diverse workforce, n.d., par. 1). Of this number, more that 3,600 collaborately form the management and professional group who were hired from diverse countries all over the world. Exxon’s organizing strategy in terms of its human resources is â€Å"to increase the number of national employees over the life span of a project and to train them in technical and professional skills necessary for working on existing and future projects and operations† (Exxon: Our diverse workforce, n.d., par. 3).The strategy is applicable to human resources functions of recruitment, selection, training, maintenance and development of personnel. As indicated, the long term goal of the strategy is to hone the skills of talented personnel who are deemed competent and highly qualified to meet global demands of future needs of the organization. 2. Physical Assets Exxon Mobil has recognized the crucial importance of securing the physical assets of the organization. The organizing function required management to design a comprehensive inventory of all

Analyze policy that guides community services for older adults Research Paper

Analyze policy that guides community services for older adults - Research Paper Example Demographics define people with different social relationships and design needs. According to the 2002 U.S. Census, the older adults constitute 35.6 million that is 12.3% of the country’s population. By 2020, it is foreseen that 17% of the population will be 65 years old and over. The census revealed that 20.8 million women were 65 years old and above, while men were 14.8 million (Anderson, 2011). According to Anderson (2011), the U.S. Census Bureau in 2008, predicted that by 2030, individuals aged 85 years, and above will rise from 4.6 million to 9.6 million (p.6). Medicare is a federal insurance scheme for persons aged 65 years and above. The insurance cover considers those persons with disability. Individuals aged 65 years and above qualify for Medicare benefits and are allowed to apply in part of fully. The other group of individuals who qualify for Medicare are those eligible for social security. One becomes eligible through FICA contributions that occurred during the time he/she was working, or one was married to a person who did. Medicare gives two kinds of insurance that is the traditional fee-for-service option and Medicare advantage. In traditional option, the client is insured by the government while the Medicare advantage is given to individuals who depend on private plan for their benefits. In the traditional option, the Medicare plan is divided into two parts, that is, part A and B. It reflects the division on the funding of the schedule. The part A gets funding from a part of the taxation of social security benefits and payroll taxes. The areas covered by part A include hospice services, some home health care, inpatient hospital care and skilled nursing benefits. On the other hand, part B covers outpatient hospital care, some health care, ambulatory services, physician and associated services. For individuals who qualify for type A receives the

Compare and contrast aspects of psychodynamic and cognitive Essay

Compare and contrast aspects of psychodynamic and cognitive theoretical approaches to counselling - Essay Example Traumatic memories of childhood are recorded in the unconscious mind and these are reminded in the individual until it becomes a cause of sickness and emotional disorders in adulthood. The belief that psychological factors can cause some sickness or malfunctioning became a popular concept during the time of Freud. Freud became phenomenal when he first announced the science of psychoanalysis. It was new then but his patients were healed and freed of their illnesses because of his precise diagnosis. Although his theory focused more on the sexual libido and the oedipal complex, they were at first unopposed and became the basis for treatment of many illnesses. Stress or anxiety, according to Freud, was a primary cause of sickness in man. Riley says that these unconscious events of the pasts were discovered through â€Å"techniques such as free association, the interpretation of dreams, thoughts and feelings emerging through reveries on the couch and nothing slips of the tongue (known as ‘Freudian slips’), misreadings and the forgetting of names† (Riley, p. 5). ... Stress can mean anxiety, arousal, fear, or burnout. This particular phenomenon causes maladies like mental illness, cancer, cardiovascular disease, but also common cold. There is a relational link between arousal and stress to metabolic rate. When we are active, or involved in sports, our metabolic rate rises, along with gross measures of the heart and respiratory rates. When stress is experienced, metabolic rate also rises. Ways to determine if an organism is activated or aroused include physiological measure, where the â€Å"organism’s overt behaviour may be used as basis for evaluation† (Pargman, 2006, p. 3). We can measure or observe the physiological component. We have the nervous system which is composed of the central nervous system and the autonomic nervous system. The central nervous system is comprised of the brain, spinal cord and its branches. The automatic nervous system is composed of the head, pelvic, and sympathetic divisions. The three divisions of the autonomic nervous system are in counterbalancing act. They have some control on the vital functions of the body. The central nervous system on the other hand interferes in cases of emergency – it sends impulses to the autonomic system as soon as it perceives danger. The perception of fear in particular situations can provide thoughts. For example, a musician may think that he/she will not be able to perform well; she becomes afraid. This will send impulses to the brain. Anxiety may come in and the performance will be greatly affected. There are theoretical perspectives in determining stress causality, these are: psychoanalytic orientations, learning orientations, sociological orientations, and personological orientations (Pargman, 2006, p. 30). Freud called traumatic anxiety the excess libido

Waste Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Waste Management - Essay Example This amounts to 20,000 to 30,000 tonnes of general battery waste generated each year. Facilities for recycling automotive batteries are well developed and 90% of the highly hazardous automotive batteries go for recycling. However comparatively, only one percent of household batteries go for recycling. In 2000, approximately 19,000 tonnes of waste general usage batteries and 113,000 tonnes of automotive batteries had to be disposed. Most of these were dumped in landfill sites. Approximately 680 million batteries were purchased in UK in 2001, and statistics show that over 89% of these were general purpose batteries. Figures in other countries like US and Japan are as devastating. Estimates1 indicate that over three billion industrial and household batteries were sold in the US in 1998, and battery consumption rate rose by 5.8 percent annually through 2002. Between 1998 and 2003, the global demand for secondary batteries grew by 67% with Japan holding 65% of the market share in 2003. Th e cost of recycling varies in different countries, while some base it on the chemistry of the battery, others measure it across tonnage alone. However the basic cost for recycling batteries approximately comes to $1,000 to $2,000US per ton. The costs double when transportation is also included. This is a figure that all countries are trying to bring down, with Europe aiming to achieve the figure of $300 per ton (Buchmann, 2001). Authorities responsible for managing battery waste Currently various local authorities have been established specifically for managing battery waste. The Waste and Recycling Action Plan (WRAP) has started various programmes across UK for battery collection. REBAT is another organization in the UK set up to manage and collect portable rechargeable batteries. It is a component of the British Battery Manufacturer Association, and provides comprehensive information on recycling companies and support for battery recycling. A few of the battery recycling plants and programs set up in Europe include names of G&P Batteries, the first recycling plant dedicated to recycling household batteries. Britannia Refined Metals in Kent and HJ Enthoven & Sons in Derbyshire are two recycling

Embracing Cash Flow Ratios for predicting financial future Dissertation

Embracing Cash Flow Ratios for predicting financial future - Dissertation Example Acknowledgments I wish to forward my appreciation for the support, guidance, comments to my respected Supervisor, Supervisor’s name here, for his/her dedicated supervision towards this piece of work. Further, I am greatly thankful to the numerous colleagues; and friends whose work greatly facilitate me to comprehend the main theme of this research work. Financial ratios have failed to accurately predict the financial position of companies. Despite their widespread use in the financial world, the constant occurrence of business bankruptcies seriously highlights the inherent weaknesses of these ratios. Beyond any doubt, due to these shortcomings in these ratios, predicting successful or failed businesses have become a necessity; this necessity can be properly filled up if the use of cash flow ratios is adopted as these ratios do not take into account the subjective measures and depreciation. The fundamental difference offered by the cash flow ratios emanates from their cash basi s procedure rather than accrual basis. Cash flows have become a significant part towards performance and position evaluation of a company’s yearly performance. And, in this regard, Rose et al., (2007) contend that the cash flow information facilitates to the users of financial statements in a way to receive the related financial information relating to the source and use of particularly the entire financial resources over a particular time period. And that financial information is classified into the different segments of cash flow ratios statement such as operating, investing and financial activities (Macve, 1997). However, cash flow ratios have not been in use as the other financial ratios such as liquidity, investors, and so on. Thereby, technical and investment fund managers and analysts have been using these measures to determine and evaluate performance and position of companies. Despite their wide spread use for the purpose of evaluation, these financial ratios have be en unable to timely identify the possible presence of shortcomings in the strategic and operational policies of the companies. In this regard, Albrecht (2003) argues that these forms of ratios are inherently affected by the fundamental weaknesses of ‘accrual based accounting.’ Purpose of the study (problems with other ratios)