Organisational Behaviour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Organisational Behaviour - Essay Example The explanation as to why people behave the way they do can be different according to the perspectives of different people because they are not from a single factor of the environment but various issues in the wider organisation. Organisational behaviour is a field of study that explains the impact the different things that a person undertakes in an organisation and how they affect the relationships between them and others. This explains why individuals, groups and structures within an organisation have a great impact on the on employees and employers and the impact on the performance of the organisation. Organisational behaviour explains the effectiveness of the organisation as effects of the conduct of any individual in the organisation in doing various things that are in accordance to their mandate. This concept is used in determining the different things into which an organisation can engage so that it can improve its performance and increase its productivity and profitability. T he analysis of different relationships, the organisational culture and organisational structure of Coca Cola and comparing them with those of the PepsiCo gives an insight into the importance of these aspects of an organisation to its performance. Organisations adopt different theories that help them to establish their businesses in various areas and with prediction that it will have profitability in the future. Methodology In explaining organisational culture and structure, there are various theories that explain the kind of systems that could exist in and organisation because these determine relationships that exists between different members of the society. To help to understand the relationship that exists in a company, using the Leavitt’s model will be necessary because it explains how different systems in the organisation relate and enhance productivity in it (Brooks, 2003, p. 133). This relates the technological, structural and individuals and their roles in developing the strategies that are likely to enhance development of the people (see appendix 1). Weisbord Six-Box Model is one of the common models that will enhance the understanding of the different factors that exist in Coca Cola Company and they interact to influence performance. The model will be helpful to analyse the various incentives, rewards, and plans that a company has that helps individuals to perform well in it (Mullins, 2005, p.508). The other model that will be important in analysis of organisational behaviour by focusing on organisational structure and culture is the McKinsey 7S framework. Robert H. Waterman, Jr. and Tom Peters developed the model to help in monitoring internal changes in an organisation to explain performance potentials of an organisation. This model of analysis provides seven factors that mutually interrelate to influence the performance of individuals in the organisation and therefore, affect the outcomes of a company’s investment in a venture. The 7 S that correlate to produce a properly performing organisation with motivated employees include strategy, skills, structure, style, staff, systems and subordinate goals, which are also known as shared goals (See appendix 2). This model will help to understand the various interrelationships that happen to Coca Cola Company as an operational company within the market. Burke-Litwin model of organisation performance and change relates either the internal and external factors that affect positively or negatively the performance of

The Effects Of War On Humanity

The Effects Of War On Humanity A dictionary definition of War is a state of open, armed, often prolonged conflict carried on between nations, states, or parties. Whilst this definition is clear enough it does not come close to exploring the true meaning of war in terms of emotions and the effects of war on humanity as detailed throughout history by the poets. Wars prior to 1914 have inspired poets to record for posterity the grime hard facts of conflict and the impact on lives While ravens and kites peck at human entrails (Li Po or Li Bais Nefarious War). Other poets have used war to stimulate their audience, maybe to take up arms When can their glory fade? O the wild charge they made (Alfred Lord Tennysons The Charge of the Light Brigade), while others have used poetry to record glorious acts to maintain the memory and perhaps justify a past war So on they fought like a swirl of living fire (Homers The Iliad) which remained only as a verbal record for centuries before it was written down. The poems studied have explored the different aspects of war. From Homers The Iliad and his glorious description of Menelaus Finest Hour through to Alfred Lord Tennysons homage to courage and honour in his celebrated The Charge of the Light Brigade to Li Pos Nefarious War this essay will explore how poets have considered the impact of war on humanity. This essay will touch on the simple rhythm of Whitmans Beat! Beat! Drums! and narrative provided in another Walt Whitmans elegy Vigil Strange I Kept on the Field One Night I kept one night. This essay will contrast the glory of a cavalry charge with Whitmans crushing description of the degeneration of a bereaved mother in Come up from the Fields Father. This essay will consider how these poems compare across the range of emotion all of which humanity has experienced when war is declared, fought or concluded. This essay will also make reference on John Scotts The Drum, comparing to the distaste for the different sounds of war. Homers The Iliad is an epic poem telling the story of the Trojan War. It is set in a time where people considered the Gods to be all powerful and present in life influencing every aspect of human existence. The war referred to in The Iliad was the Trojan War fought between the Greeks and the Trojans in what is now mainland Turkey. The war took place in the 8th or 9th century BC. The epic poem concerned the famous story of the abduction of Helen of Troy by Paris and her husband, the Greek King Menelaus war to gain her back and destroy the city of Troy. The Greeks landed close to Troy and besieged the city for ten years. During these years a number of battles were fought and The Iliad provided a narrative of these engagements. One such episode describes the fight over the body Patroclus, a friend of Achilles, who had been killed by Hector, the Trojan hero. In describing the fight for Patroclus body Homer recalls the gods Ares, Athena and finally Zeus and compares the warriors efforts t o those of the Gods Not even Ares  [1]  , lasher of armies, not even Athena  [2]  Watching the battle here could scorn its fury Homer demonstrates the supreme effort made to recover the body of a dead comrade. The use of anaphora here helps to highlight the colossal effort demonstrated during the conflict that not even the acts of Gods could compare. This comparison by Homer may have been a useful device in the context of the times in which the poem was retold usually by travelling actors bringing stories to distant Greek villages, the comparison of effort to that of the Gods implies superhuman strength designed, no doubt, to inspire awe from the villagers. Therefore the Iliad can also be compared to a type of propaganda, not only to entertain the masses, but also to remind them that the men at arms in the service of the King were to be not only admired but feared; in this way showing an effect on humanity. Homer sets a scene that is full of men grappling, fighting and straining. This titan like struggle contrasts with Whitmans elegy Vigil Strange I Kept on the Field One Night I kept on the field one night where the authors reflections on the after battle scene describe a quiet lonely place Vigil wondrous and vigil sweet there in the fragrant silent night, But not a tear fell, not even a long-drawn sigh, long, long I gazed.. His use of long drawn sigh and repetition of long suggest time and space for reflection as opposed to the crowded feel of the combat in the Iliad. Further, Homers description of the environment Fought on at their ease beneath a clear blue sky, Sharp brilliance of sunlight glittering round them, not a cloud in sight to shadow the earth and mountains. Men who fought at a distance worked with frequent breaks suggest a sun scorched, hot sweating place where grit and dust mix with blood to create a fearsome scene. The imagery created would have been familiar to listeners who will have recognised such a hot eastern Mediterranean climate. Homers efforts to ensure his listeners recognition go some way to allowing empathy with the heroes in the poem. This narrative style contrasts with the short clipped verse in The Drumby John Scott which has an absence of any description of the environment in which the conflicts referred to take place. In The Iliad, Homer sets the scene providing a background for the listener to connect with whereas Whitmans poem has no intention or need for such description as his intention is dramatically different. InThe Drumthe environment has no relevance above the message that the pounding of the drum is the messenger of doom. Similarly, Beat! Beat! Drums! by Walt Whitman is being described by a tentative soldier; the soldier illustrates the hatred he obtains for this drum that is beating for the announcing of war breaking out. John Scott uses a very common poetic device in The Drum; he utilizes poetic meter to create the rhythm thus creating an echo of the drums. He uses iambic tetrameter as shown in the following quotation; I hate that drums discordant sound/ parading round, and round, and round. The pattern of the stressed and unstressed syllables (-/-/-/-/) conveys how the drum in the poem is being played. For Scott, the sound is hateful as it calls young men to fight and fall in foreign lands. In Whitmans poem he writes using free verse, however, the heavy stresses on the syllables on the opening line also demonstrates the sound of the drum. This suggests the destructive nature of war on humanity. The use of onomatopoeia in Beat! Beat! Drums! also helps suggest this. In Homers The Iliad, I feel as though Homers exploration on the effect of war on humanity is very clear. He shows the physically grueling experience of being on the battle field, with the gods as passive spectators. The Iliad includes a lot of references to the young men involved with battle; Grim and grueling, relentless drenching labour, non stop. Homer is making it clear through the use of alliteration, a list and negative words that these men are working very hard. This can be compared to the elegy Come Up From The Fields Father, as Whitman also shows the effect war has on young men. However, the two different poets have different ideas to put across to the reader. Homer wanted to show the benefits of the young fighting because of the enthusiastic approach revealed by them. Whitman wanted to show the negative effect of war on the young soldiers and their families. In the poem the family of the young soldier receives a letter that tells them he has been injured; gunshot wound in t he breast, cavalry skirmish, taken to hospital. The impact the letter has on the family is devastating and when the mother finds out that her only son is dead, she is so grief stricken that she wants to die. The second ancient poem under consideration is Li Pos Nefarious War. Li Po or Li Bai, the variation of Romanization of à ¦Ã‚ Ã… ½Ãƒ §Ã¢â€ž ¢Ã‚ ½, was a poet who lived around 700 BC in imperial China. He was a famous poet who wrote many poems on varied subjects including war, love and wine. He was renowned for his ability to write without correction. His career was spent in the court of the Chin Dynasty  [3]  but he fell foul to court intrigue and eventually committed suicide. Li Po was not a soldier but in his Nefarious War the speaker is clearly a warrior, who talks of his weariness with conflict and his reflection on wars impact. At the time of writing imperial China was engaged in continuous struggle to defend its borders against marauding tribes. The impact on its people was considerable. Given the vast size of China it was not possible to defend all the territory under the emperor and therefore much time was spent on the campaign where the armies would travel for years to combat warring hordes or tribes attempting to steal territory, people or possessions. Po seems to suggest war is unavoidable. His first stanza describes locations of the campaigns the head-stream of the Sang-kan, the Tsung-ho road, the waves of Chiao-chi lake and the pastures on Tien-shans snowy slopes. This can be compared to Homers description of the plains of Troy where a specific battle is fought for a specific reason. Li Po provides no particular political reason for war other than the need for defense against a foe. Nefarious War suggests an unrelenting, grinding attrition where the defenders of the empire need to be ever watchful Where the Chin emperor built the walls against the Tartars, There the defenders of Han are burning beacon fires. The beacon fires burn and never go out, There is no end to war this signifying a constant state of alertness using alliteration to make the point burning beacon fires./The beacon fires burn where the use of B provides a harsh staccato and repetition provide a prelude to the final There is no end to war suggesting an exhausti ng vigil followed by the suggestion of lament that no end to the conflict is in sight. Due to the depressing language Po uses, one thought springs to mind, Po might well be making a plea for peace symptomatic of a need for rest from the ever present danger and the need for a constant watch. This can be contrasted to the battle being described by Homer, it is stated that the fighting is done in one place, not on a widespread scale. Additionally, there are many references to the length of war, the fact that war goes on forever. Li Po describes the conflicts as The long, long war goes on ten thousand miles from home. The repetition used here is very effective, it makes the reader feels the real expression of tedium made by speaker. Also, Po uses the repetition to link to the idea of the life of a warrior being boring; the mere fact that it is the same everyday and nothing changes. John Scott uses repetition in his poem The Drum with his reference to the troops parading round, and round, and round. This is similar to the repetition of Long, long which suggests that war has a negative effect on humanity. Li Po goes on to describe the battlefield in his third stanza. In the battlefield men grapple each other and die provides a brief summary compared to Homers detailed description of the fight for Patroclus body. Li Pos economy with words suggests a different view of war. Far from it being an illustrious fight between men for a reason (the recovery of Patroclus body) the empty, uselessness suggested in this opening line portray a futility. Li Po contrasts the leaders with the followers So, men are scattered and smeared over the desert grass, and the generals have accomplished nothing. Here it is the ordinary soldiers that do the dying whilst the generals who command the army achieve little by the efforts of their men. In The Charge of the Light Brigade Tennyson refers to this element of war with his Not though the soldier knew, some one had blundered where generals order the deaths of men under their command without thought. However Tennyson goes on to emphasis the heroism and dedicati on to duty displayed by the cavalry at Balaclava whereas Li Pos reference to the men and horses dying merely reminds the reader of the impact of battle on them (The horses of the vanquished utter lamentable cries to heaven). This reminds us that the effect of war is not only on humanity, but on the animals. This can be therefore related back to Pos point about the gravity of war and how it affects everyone, that it is inescapable and destructive Li Po suggests a lot about the leaving of the bodies on the battle field. The mere fact of different birds of prey pecking at the human entrails explains to us that the dealing with human fatalities at this time was very poor. This image is repulsive it is clear that they dont even care what happens to the bodies due to the negative wording. However if you contrast this to Homers The Iliad, the fight for a heros body, such care and passion demonstrated in for the body of Patroclus and to ensure a proper burial. This is of course not the case for the bodies being described by Po. In Whitmans Vigil Strange I Kept On The Field One Night, there are many references to a brother or very close friend relationship between the two comrades representing, on a general scale, the bond between soldiers at the time of the American Civil War. An interesting point is that if we compare Nefarious War with the perspective of Vigil Strange I Kept on the Field One Night, it demonstrates the progression in concern for soldiers as human beings, over the centuries, with individual lives and families rather than just complete armies or unnamed bodies on the battlefield. At a point of interest, The Iliad and Nefarious War were written in different parts of the world; therefore this can be linked to the conflict that exists today. This is the clash of Western vs. Eastern culture; it can be interoperated that Homer was presenting the ethos of his people and Li Po doing the same. Both poets representing the way in which warfare is dealt in their culture. Through out the range of poems that are being considered, there are aspects of soldiers joining in unity. Noticeably it is hardly used at all in Vigil Strange I Kept on the Field One Night, as the idea that the poet wants to get across is the concept of the individual love and not of comrades showing unity. One may even sense an impression of ignorance, coming from the poet, of the soldiers feelings or of the terrible effects of the war-torn environment that surround them by focusing on one relationship and not the big picture. However, this is definitely not the case shown in Nefarious War; Po wants the widespread effects on humanity to be apparent while being read. Last year we fought by the head-stream of the Sang-kan, this year we are fighting on the Tsung-ho road. We have washed our armor in the waves of Chiao-chi Lake; we have pastured our horses on Tien-shans snowy slopes. The repetition of we in this context is an effective means of pulling in the reader and allowing Po to cr eate unity between himself and his comrades. We is often used as a motivational device to form a community within a group; it is used to show equality from even the lowest ranked soldier fighting alongside to a King. In this case, Po is trying to present to the reader the universal suffering that is taking place. This can be contrasted, with great clarity, to Vigil Strange I Kept on the Field One Night, by the author showing individual anguish instead of a collective misery. Whilst the misery illustrated by Po throughout his poem does seem to distract from the actual descriptive nature of the war, his message should not be ignored that war is a destructive force and nothing good comes out of it. However, it is worthy of note that Pos exploration/description of war differs from Homers or Whitmans. Whitman shows an energized approach towards war, as though, he is remembering action to happen, for example, Beat! Beat! Drums!Blow! Bugles! Blow! Through the windowsthrough doorsburst like a ruthless force. This quotation demonstrates a real eruption of Whitmans message here that war is destructive, the explosive B alliteration articulated by Whitman shows us the genuine energy that war does in fact bring. In the first stanza of Nefarious War, the idea of fatigue is portrayed by Po with a thought of no hope, armies [have] worn and grown old. An automatic image that comes to mind when including such words as old and worn gives off the negative vibe intended by Po, it makes us imagine a withering army consisting of a few men. Consequently, Po intentionally illustrating the effects on humanity but especially the armed forces of the country. In spite of this; Po uses a lot of active verbs in the third stanza, comparable to the energy in The Iliad. Po uses words such as grapple and vanquish. This can be compared to the violent words used by Homer. The image in our heads of men hacking the lines to pieces and the illustration of both sides dragging the corpse. These expressions are full of energy; they are the many of the violent cinematic imagery used by Homer to formulate the actual being there effect the poet wants the reader to experience. In addition to that point, Homer wanted to report the horror of the battle of Troy; as a consequence he uses much hyperbole to shock his audience. One of the very moving similes Homer uses to describe the fighting is the link to fire, relating the fighting as a swirl of living fire. The main descriptive word here is fire, which gives an impression of carnage and mayhem. This is exactly what Homer wants to create; he wants to explain to the reader what a hectic battle this truthfully is. Nefarious War has a lot in common with another Whitman poem, Come Up From the Fields Father. This poem deals with the torment of war on humanity. It is about a letter arriving at a household in America reading that the son has a gunshot wound to his breast. This of course is devastating to the family. Whitman then focuses on the mothers reaction, which is fainting going Sickly white in the face and consequently wishing to die when she discovers her son is dead. Come Up From The Fields Father can be compared to Nefarious War in that they both deal on the effect of war on humanity and the disturbance of the normal life. While they stand at home at the door he is dead already, The only son is dead. This quotation is adequate for what the author is trying to explain to the reader, the idea is linked back to what Po wants to get across, the suggestion of no hope. This image plays in our mind, the word only automatically creates an image of aloneness or only one, and this demonstrating the devastating effects that war has on family life therefore Whitman showing no amnesty towards war. If you look at the different poetic devices used by Homer and Po, you will see that Homer uses a lot of enjambements to retain the flow of the action in the battle; In Nefarious War there is only one example of enjambment. An example from the illiad is; Achaeans to drag him back to the hollow ships/ And round him always the brutal struggle raging. It is worth noting how Homer wants the flow to stay fluent when being read; this is done by not using a comma at the end of the first line, hollow ships. Po wants to get the message through about the evils of war; he shows this by using negative poetic devices, such as sibilance. Sibilance comes from the Latin word meaning hissing the link to the ancient belief of a snake hissing; this being the link to evil. As in the bible, Satan disguised himself as a snake in the garden of evil. The representation of this is made by authors use of s, soft c, sh and z sounds. So, men are scattered and smeared. The annotation smeared is a very ugly word, it creates an automatic blood shed image, the hint of smearing blood on a sword. The concept of men [being] scattered is very potent to the reader, it creates a picture of a bomb shell hitting the battle field. This quotation is very clear in what Po wants you to get from his poem; he wants you to pick up on the evils of war, as shown by the use of sibilance. Po also wants you pick up on the effects of war on humanity, humanity being the men that have been scattered and smeared. Po comes across as one of the normal men affected by the war participating in his country; he uses a first hand account, fabricating the struggle of the humanity in ancient China. After all, war affected the run of the mill man, not specially trained soldiers, the average farmer as hinted by Po; The barbarian does man-slaughter, not plowing. This completes Pos message to the reader, the thought of war having an effect on not just humanity but the livelihood and the wellbeing of families. Thus Po intentionally showing the reader the detestable effects of war on the humanity in China at the time. Tennysons Charge of the Light Brigade is an example of a war poem written for a purpose that to provide some useful propaganda and to understand this more fully the context surrounding the setting needs to be considered.The Crimean War (1853 to 1856) fought between the allied coalition (Britain, France, Turkey and Sardinia) and Russia was the first large scale conflict to be covered by journalists as we understand it today. For the first time reports of battle could be cabled or returned by fast sloop back to London in time for newspaper runs. Accounts of the battle field by independent reporters shocked the home audience as the public became aware for the first time of the poor conditions of the fighting soldiers and the incompetent nature of the leadership. The conflict surrounded Russias continual threat to the Ottoman Empire. Russia required a warm water port in the Mediterranean and provoked a war with Turkey over religious matters in Ottoman held Jerusalem. Britain and France came to Turkeys aid and sent men and ships to the black sea to counter the Russian threat to the Bosphorus. At this period, Britain was at its most powerful with an empire stretching around the globe. British superiority in trade, manufacturing and sea power provided a sense of invincibility to the nation who supported the war. Technology had developed to enable telegraphic communications and photography and so it was possible for the conflict to be followed both in the written form and visually in much shorter timescales than ever before. Russell of The Times was the most noted correspondent. The coalition forces had landed in the Crimea on the black sea and laid siege to Sevastopol, the main Russian port in the area. The coalition forces were thinly stretched through battle casualties but mainly through disease and poor sanitary conditions. In an attempt to raise the siege the Russian forces attacked the coalition flank at Balaklava. During this action there were three major events, the Highland soldiers resistance to a Russian cavalry charge the Thin Red Line the Charge of the Heavy Brigade to repulse a further cavalry attack and the most famous of all, the Charge of the Light Brigade. The first two actions were fine examples of British soldiers led by their commanders beating the enemy when defeat looked certain, however it is the Charge of the Light Brigade that has become world famous for its pointlessness. Against all the accepted rules of warfare of the day, the British Light cavalry charged the main body of the Russian army due to a poorly worded order. Many men and horses were killed for no gain. The Charge was reported by Russell and along with other reports of the poor handling of the war, public opinion turned against the conflict. Florence Nightingale famously intervened with the wounded and set up a hospital in Scutari. Questions were raised in parliament and long after the war ended there were concerns on all aspects of the handling of the war. It is against this backdrop that Tennysons Charge of the Light Brigade must be considered. Like Homer, Tennyson had specific reasons for the construction of his poetry. The war had proved unpopular and as Poet Laureate, Tennyson may have been responding to the public attacks against the establishment by presenting the charge in its more favourable light. Tennyson emphasises this in his last three lines Honour the charge they made! Honour the Light Brigade, Noble six hundred! He keeps this exaltation to the last to leave the reader in no doubt that whatever the reasons for the blunder the charge was an honorable thing. Tennyson opens the account by recreating the rhythm of the horses cantering, Half a league, half a league, Half a league onward. This is an example of dactylic meter with the last foot onward as trochaic. This use of meter helps to establish the prologue to the action the cavalry steadily advancing on the enemy. Tennyson takes the reader to the centre of the action, Cannon to right of them, Cannon to left of them, Cannon in front of them, and Stormed at with shot and shell. This use of anaphora and alliteration simulates the effect of gun fire as the cavalry move down the valley. Tennyson provides this imagery to set the scene of the carnage the men faced. Boldly they rode and well, Into the jaws of Death, Into the mouth of Hell. Here Tennyson tells us that despite the storm of lead these well trained disciplined soldiers kept going where perhaps others would have stopped. He raises this point earlier in the poem Forward, the Light Brigade! Was there a man dismayed? This seems at first a rhetorical question, however Tennyson quickly confirms the irrelevance of the question with Theirs not to make reply, Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die in doing so he reminds the reader that the soldiers were there to do their duty and not question the intentions of their leaders. The repetition of Theirs is emphatic. It is not for the soldier to reply to an order neith er is it to try to fathom the intricacies of military tactics, their job was to follow orders and perhaps die in the process. Tennyson is reminding the audience of the nature of soldiering and warfare. The first three stanzas deal with the approach, the fourth addresses the action at the guns while the fifth describes the return of the Light Brigade. Tennyson repeats his use of alliteration here again Stormed at with shot and shell to remind the reader that the cavalry was under fire both in to action and homeward bound. Against a backdrop of criticism of the war Tennyson is reminding the reader throughout that the action was to be admired When can their glory fade? O the wild charge they made! All the world wondered. Here reminding the reader that through the action Britain remains admired. This contrasts with Li Pos Nefarious War that has none of the elements of message contained within Charge of the Light Brigade. Li Pos poem is at its heart anti war; So, men are scattered and smeared over the desert grass, And the generals have accomplished nothing suggests the absolute pointless waste of human life by the soldiers, leaders. In contrast Tennysons only reference to the poor leadership of the war was Not though the soldier knew, Someone had blundered Tennysons assertion that some good came out of the action exampled by the splendid military precision displayed by the cavalry Boldly they rode and well and Flashed all their sabres bare, Flashed as they turned in air suggesting military discipline and prowess, this contrasts with Scotts The Drum- I hate that drums discordant sound, Parading round, and round, and round the repetition of round provides an imagery of pointless drilling of soldiers undergoing repetitive tasks for no apparent reason. In conclusion, the range of poems and poets that I have included in my study have expressed the full range of emotions and views from the heroic to the wastefulness of war but, ultimately, all have provided a graphic portrayal of the effect of war on humanity. Of the main poets that I have concentrated on, Homer and Tennyson focus on the energy of war and portray human sacrifice as the ultimate in. In contrast, Po wants to inform people of the terrors of war in order that humanity will learn from the terrible deaths of the war-torn and not have wars in the future. While Po has more of a wide-reaching message, probably aimed at a more at a high political level, Whitman similarly portrays war as wasteful, he concentrates on the more personal, everyman loss that soldiers deaths have on families back home. Finally, John Scotts poem, The Drum portrays the initial bravado and excitement that war can incite in both soldiers and the people at home, but ends with the brutal realities of the m angled limbs, and dying groans, And widows tears, and orphans moans, And all that Miserys hand bestows, that demonstrate the truly awful effects of war on humanity, which are perfectly summed up by Benjamin Franklin (1706 -1790), There never was a good war or a bad peace.

Urban Land Use Models :: Papers

Urban Land Use Models Often in geography models are used to try to explain something that we can see in the physical environment. During the 20th century a number of models were developed to try to explain how urban areas grew. Although models show a very general idea of the shape of the city, all of the ones described here have aspects that can be seen in most cities in the developed and developing world. The Burgess Model In 1925, E.W. Burgess presented an urban land use model, which divided cities in a set of concentric circles expanding from the downtown to the suburbs. This representation was built from Burgess's observations of a number of American cities, notably Chicago. According to this model, a large city is divided in concentric zones with a tendency of each inner zone to expand in the other zone. Urban growth is thus a process of expansion and recon version of land uses. For instance on this figure zone II (Factory zone) is expanding towards zone IV (Working class zone), creating a transition zone with recon version of land use. Although the Burgess model is simple and elegant, it has drawn numerous criticisms: * The model is too simple and limited in historical and cultural applications up to the 1950s. It is a product of its time. * The model was developed when American cities were growing very fast in demographic terms and when individual transportation was still uncommon. Expansion thus involved recon version of land uses. This concept cannot be applied in a contemporary (second half to the 20th century) context where highways have enabled urban development to escape the recon version process and settle in the suburbs. * The model was developed for American cities and has limited applicability elsewhere. It has been demonstrated that

Different Media Coverage of Israel-Palestine Conflict

The movie â€Å"Wag the Dog† is supposedly a fictitious film about a group of publicity managers who fabricate a war in an unknown country in the Middle East and then work their publicity magic in order to create the persona of a president in charge. The movie was a highly comical yet engrossing look at how mass media easily manipulates the public into believing what they want the public to believe. What is highly disturbing is that the movie, made by Hollywood for the entertainment of the masses, is actually based on reality.This reality is deeply embedded in the Israel – Palestine conflict that has been raging on for as far back as I can remember. Politics is a very dirty and secretive game. The government and its supporters will utilize anything and everything in order to achieve their endgame. The public is the unwitting spawn in this power struggle and the controlling method of choice is the mass media. The manipulation happens so high up in the government power hi erarchy that even the media no longer realizes that their supposedly independent and free thinking job of keeping the public informed is a well thought out and planned outcome of Washington's needs.Media coverage of the Israel-Palestine conflict is considered an important tool in understanding the source of their bad blood relationship. The media reports that are seen worldwide are an influential source both political and social support for both nations. This is the reality that is presented to the world and it is the basis for the creation of a strong public opinion either in support of or against the goings on between the two countries.In the opinion column of Sonia Nettnin that she entitled â€Å"U.S. Media Coverage of Israel-Palestine Conflict†, she informed her readers about the reality of who really controls the US Media when it comes to the coverage of the Israel – Palestine conflict: Few Americans realize that U. S. mainstream media coverage of the Israel-Pales tine conflict passes through America's political elites, Israeli public relations organizations and private American organizations, before it reaches the public. In other words, we get the sanitized version of the reports.Nothing we see on the nightly news, or hear on the radio reports, even what we read in the newspapers, can be taken to be the unabridged truth of the goings on in that part of the world. She invites her readers to watch the film † Peace, Propaganda and the Promised Land: U. S. Media and the Israel – Palestine Conflict† in order to realize how much our media is censored without realizing it. Nettnin specifically wants the viewers to understand how the director of the film, Sut Jhally:Examines how these filters distort the realities on the ground. It demonstrates how through word choice, limited historical context and one-sided perspectives, U. S. journalists provide the American public with limited news coverage. The media's misinformation campaig n is actually a public relations manipulation being masterminded by American corporations and lobbyist groups. The manipulation of the news allows the media and various interests groups to mold the public opinion towards beliefs that will be beneficial to those concerned.Simple word play can totally alter the way news video footage is presented to the public. In reference to an actual event that happened in September 3, 2001, Nettnin relates that: Through interviews with journalists, media analysts and political activists, the film explores the co-opted media's techniques for reporting the conflict and mobilizing public opinion. For example, on September 3, 2001, a news network did not want its journalists referring to the Israeli settlement, Gilo, as a â€Å"settlement. † Instructions given to journalists explained that â€Å"?We don't refer to it as a settlement? † so in one of the network's news clips that followed, the journalist reporting from Gilo used the offici ally substituted word â€Å"neighborhood. † The word change altered the perspective of the news report drasttically because it removed an perception of colonization from the report's context. Clearly, replacing or eliminating words from a report can assist with removing skepticism about the nature of its subject matter. Moreover, it helps modify public perceptions as to who is the aggressor.Last February 5, 2006, Alison Weir, founder of If Americans Knew (IAK) presented a compelling power point presentation titled â€Å"Israel-Palestine: What the Media Leave Out† at the Meditation Center in Fairfax, California. Here, she showed her audience of 14 people her personal statistical analysis pertaining to the American media reporting of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. According to her, their group research discovered that television reports covering the conflicts between September 2000 – 2001 reported:Israeli deaths at a ratio of three to four times greater than re ports of Palestinians killed. In addition, Israeli deaths frequently would have a prominent follow-up report, whereas Palestinian deaths were rarely reported even once. What further disturbs Weir is that this pattern of inaccurate and biased reporting continues to be the format for news reports of similar events up to the present time of the conflict. Basically, the whole world will depict the ongoing war between Israel and Palestine based upon reports coming out of the USA.This is because the USA is considered the World Police by majority of the nations thereby giving the country the right to dictate how other countries will be viewed in the context of a battle. According to a joint article entitled â€Å"America's One-Eyed View of War: Stars, Stripes, and the Star of David† by Andrew Gumbel and Donald Macintyre of The Independent: There are two sides to every conflict – unless you rely on the US media for information about the battle in Lebanon.Viewers have been fed a diet of partisan coverage that treats Israel as the good guys and their Hizbollah enemy as the incarnation of evil. American media has portrayed the Hisbollah as the bad guys in this ongoing religious war. This is not to say that the Hizbolla's are not the bad guys, but the Israeli's, the people viewed as the innocents may not really be all that clean either. But, the U. S. has made such a clear cut decision on who the bad guys are in this scenario that the attitude of the country has left no room for any sort of debate on the topic.While watching the cable news reports, I have come to realize that the reason we feel such empathy for the Israeli's is because these networks all have their reporters in the thick of the action within Israel and none in Palestine. There is also a lack of real interest in getting a professional opinion from a historical expert who is familiar with the roots of the Israel-Palestine conflict. But, the report goes on to say that: A startling amount of air time, meanwhile, is given to the likes of Michael D Evans, an end-of-the-world Biblical â€Å"prophet† with no credentials in the complexities of Middle Eastern politics.He has shown up on MSNBC and Fox under the label â€Å"Middle East analyst†. Fox's default analyst, on this and many other issues, has been the right-wing provocateur and best-selling author Ann Coulter, whose main credential is to have opined, days after 9/11, that what America should do to the Middle East is â€Å"invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity†. It is said that the Bush Administration has a solid view of the Hizbollah as, according to Gumbel and Macintyre:Part of a giant anti-Israeli and anti-American terror network that also includes Hamas, al-Qa'ida, the governments of Syria and Iran, and the insurgents in Iraq. It is this view that the media of the world has interpreted and believed. Mainly because the conflict is presented in such a cut and dri ed manner by the United States government that nobody will dare to ask questions such as what the difference between the 2 groups are or perhaps wonder aloud as to what their goals might be. Mainly because according to San Francisco rabbi Michael Lerner:There is no major figure in American political life who has been willing to raise the issue of the legitimate needs of the Palestinian people, or even talk about them as human beings. The organised Jewish community has transformed the image of Judaism into a cheering squad for the Israeli government, whatever its policies are. That is just idolatry, and goes against all the warnings in the Bible about giving too much power to the king or the state. But just like everything else that has to do with war, the media has slowly come to realize that Palestinians are not just people across the border from Israel.They too have their own stories to tell about the atrocities of war, and, their story must be told as well. According to the video Der Yassin Remembered: Westerners now realize that Palestinians, as a people, do exist. And they have come to acknowledge that during the creation of the state of Israel, thousands of Palestinians were killed and over 700,000 were driven or frightened from their homes and lands on which they had lived for centuries. Deeper research into this topic led me to information about how the Czech media handles the reporting of the aforementioned events.In her article † Are Czech Media Reports on the Arab World Objective†, Dita Asiedu asked Jan Krecek, a faculty member at Charles University if the Czech media was providing the public with an unbiased coverage of the events in the Middle East and the Arab World. The reply received was quite straightforward: The media institutions are normal firms that are working on the market and you can see it in their content – the news is somewhat biased. This is because they have to make a profit. He points out that the worldwide medi a exercises 2 different powers when reporting the news.That of a selective power when deciding what news feeds are newsworthy, and descriptive power, or the power to choose how a story is presented. These are the main moneymakers for the company and are therefore are the major factors in making their decisions. When Czech reporters are asked why they report so little about the real status of the Israel-Palestine conflict, the usual reply is that Arab countries seem to have a closed door policy when it comes to information dissemination. According to Bretislav Turecek, reporter for Pravo, a paper in Czechoslovakia:Even Arab journalists who go to Israel see an openness of the Israelis – it's possible to call the spokesman of the Israeli Army 24 hours a day and it's possible to reach the spokesman of the Prime Minister. This is really unusual in most of the Muslim countries in the Middle East, where there are so many restrictions for journalists, or generally for foreigners. So Israel knows use the foreign press for its purpose – in both the positive and the negative way. As Mr. Turecek mentioned, the Arab community is not really interested in sharing their views and information with the rest of the world.Which is why my research turned up no Middle East media views on the media coverage of the Israel – Palestine conflict. Instead, what I did turn up were the opinions of various Israeli and Palestinian citizens who have migrated to the USA and have shared their personal views with the western media. Thus, it is this viewpoint that will be thrust of my paper from this point on. Leon T. Hadar, author of â€Å"Quagmire: America in the Middle East† is also a former New York correspondent attached to the Jerusalem Post. He related that during a conference discussing† Is the American media coverage of Middle East biased?† which he attended 2 years ago.He was hosted by the New York Times and Washington Post who allowed him to pres ent various media reports related to the Israeli – Palestinian conflict to his audience and asked them to guess what particular newspaper covered the issue. He shocked the audience when he told them that the articles were not from American, British, nor European based newspapers. Nobody could believe that: The articles, however, were all published in the leading Israeli Hebrew-language daily, Ha’aretz, also known as â€Å"the New York Times of Israel.†Ha’aretz is read by government officials, business executives, and the professional and intellectual elites in Israel. In addition to its exceptional coverage of current events, which has garnered the newspaper many national and international awards, Ha’aretz carries editorials and commentaries that help set the public agenda in Israel. It is a â€Å"must read† among diplomats and foreign correspondents stationed in Israel, who receive a more accurate and balanced picture of what is happening t here than the one presented by most leading American newspapers.Ha’aretz—unlike the Times or the Post—even employs a full-time correspondent who is stationed in the West Bank and Gaza and who provides the Palestinian perspective on the conflict, which explains why the articles by correspondent Amira Hess were considered so â€Å"pro-Arab† by my hosts. Additionally, he mentions that: Questioning the credibility of news reports from the Middle East has been one of the major tools of American Jews trying to cope with the continuing cognitive dissonance.I am amazed sometimes that, even in this age of the internet, with Ha’aretz and other Israeli newspapers maintaining English-language websites and cable news networks broadcasting around the clock, for many American Jews (and for many Christian evangelicals), Israel still remains a fantasy—and they would like to keep it that way. Meanwhile, Remi Kanazi of the Palestine Monitor author if the artic le † US Media Bias: Covering Israel/Palestine† and was really troubled by the marked discrepancies between reports from CNN and Haaretz regarding an encounter between Israel – Palestine troops:The contrast in coverage between CNN and Haaretz is staggering. The CNN headline was written in absolutes: â€Å"5 militants shot in raid. † The CNN article continues by stating only the Israeli claim that five militants were killed, making the headline biased and misleading. The Haaretz headline read: â€Å"U. S. urges restraint after IDF raid that killed 5 Palestinians. † This headline refers to the people who were shot as Palestinians and not solely militants. The Haaretz article covers conflicting Israeli and Palestinian claims, which made it impossible to determine whether or not all five killed were militants or civiliansHe mentions that he considers CNN and The New York Times . as â€Å"left wing† media outlets and wonders why they never present t he Palestinian side of the war. He claims that the answer is that both companies are neither liberal nor honest. They are simply out to sell a product and will only cover a story properly if covering it does not pose a risk of losing readers or advertising revenues. But, it is not to say that the only reason there is a slant in the coverage of this war is for financial or political reasons. Both Israel and Palestine accuse the media of being bias although these accusations have never been proven.One of the main reasons that Israel gets more news coverage in both print and television news the world over is because Israel knows how to play the lobby and public relations game. Israel has put together a highly impressive public relations team that speaks English, has knowledge of western media, and is very much at home being interviewed in front of the camera. The same public relations department also insures that informative emails are send to various news wires everyday. On the other hand, Palestinians, due to their intense secrecy, prevents itself from presenting their side of any given situation.Their grasp of the English language is so poor that the language ends up a mangled mess when they try to communicate in it thus opening themselves to misinterpretation each time anybody from their side is interviewed. The roads leading to and from Palestine are also hard to traverse making the best way to get an interview from them over the phone. They also do not have an efficient public relations team and only manages to send out about 5 emails a week to keep the international press informed of their situation.These are but a few reasons that explain why the Western news teams rarely get assigned to cover such country territories. There is so little for the other world media to go on when covering Palestine so that they instead spend their time explaining to their readers and viewers about why they don't have any information that is necessary to explain what is going on to them. For far too long, Israelis have been using the term â€Å"war against terror† in a manner that exploits the current actions of Palestine against Israel.It is this Israeli battle cry that has gotten the most media coverage over the decades much to the detriment of the Palestinians who are seemingly unable to express themselves effectively to the world. Quite recently though, there seem to have been observable changes to the way the Israel-Palestine conflict has bee playing out. With the support of British 24 hours news channel BBC, once formally accused of bias leaning towards the side of Israelis, there has been a slowly developing trend towards improving news coverage in the area. Nachman Shai an Israeli spokesman was asked about how he viewed the media coverage of the war and he replied:It (meaning the media coverage of the Israel – Palestine conflict) has gradually become more balanced than in the beginning—the media are now seeing more of the co mplicated issues than at the beginning, because of the indiscriminate violence of the suicide bombers against the Israeli population. The bottom line is that the varying differences in the media's coverage of the ongoing Israel – Palestine conflict is due to the very conflicting reports coming out of the opposing camps. Reporters are seemingly welcome only on one side of the border and this certainly affects the way they present the information they gather to the public.There is no bias or hidden agenda on the media's side. It is simply a matter of using the information that they can get their hands on in the best way they know how. Perhaps in the future, all of this will change and their will finally be a balanced and unbiased view of the events as they unfold in the Middle East. After all whether he is a television or print journalist, the main objective of a news reporter remains the same. To present the events as they happen in unbiased reporting styles.

Boeing Changes the Nature of Its Business with Global Collaboration Essay

Boeing, the $55 billion Chicago-based aerospace company, has been a major player in the global economy for almost a century. But now the company is undertaking a far-reaching transformation as it uses cutting-edge materials and electronics and high-level technology for the design and assembly process of its new passenger plane –the Boeing 787. The new plane, nicknamed the â€Å"Dreamliner,† is Boeing’s bid for market leadership in competition with Airbus. The new midsize passenger jet will have an outer shell and about half of its parts made of carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic, which will make it lighter and give it better fuel economy. In January 2006, the company had 291 firm orders and 88 commitments from 27 airlines for the new 787, which will seat from 250 to 330 passengers in varying configurations. The list price is about $150 million per plane. The previous state of the art in aviation manufacturing was to have global partners work from a common blueprint to produce parts-actually, whole sections of the airplane-that were then physically shipped to a Boeing assembly plant near Seattle to see if they fit together. Prior to the 787, wood mock-ups of planes would be constructed to see if parts built by partners around the world would really fit together. When the process failed, the cost in time and production was extreme. Boeing’s shift goes beyond making planes faster and cheaper. The new business model takes Boeing from manufacturing to a high-end technology systems integrator. In 2004, Boeing’s IT systems people were consolidated into the Boeing Technology Group. Now parts are designed from concept to production concurrently by partners (including companies in Japan, Russia, and Italy) and â€Å"assembled† in a computer model maintained by Boeing outside its corporate firewall. Boeing’s role is integrator and interface to the airlines, while the partners take responsibility for the major pieces, including their design. Boeing still takes the hit if the plane fail and deliveries are late, but the actual cost of development and manufacturing is spread across its network of collaborators. At the same time, building such global relationships may help the company sell its planes overseas. The biggest savings are the time saved through the online collaboration process (from 33 to 50 percent), creating a huge competitive advantages. Collaboration is a necessity for Boeing for several reason. Airplanes are huge and enormously complex. Politically, sales of a â€Å"global product† are enhanced when people in other countries are building parts of the airplane. Companies in these countries may then buy from Boeing. Basic collaboration is done through information-flow tools such as Microsoft Office and SharePoint. Boeing and partners are using Dassault Systemes 3D and Product Lifecycle Management solutions. Other IT tools used are a product suite from Exostar LLC, with which Boeing can share two-dimensional drawings, conduct forward and reverse auctions, and respond to RFPs, and an application called Catia. The plane is designed at Global Collaboration Environment, a special online site maintained by Boeing. There levels of collaboration are facilitated between teams and companies. In the first level-design collaboration- all parties involved log in and make their changes electronically in the blueprints, and the team works together. Quality is improves because the computer finds the mistakes. The next level involves suppliers working with their supply chains. The third level is real-time collaboration involves a considerable amount of product lifecycle management across multiple countries enabled by technology that differentiates Boeing’s new model from the previous kinds of global relationships. Boeing also uses the new partnership to solicit ideas of how to improve designs, integration, and so on. This results in cost-cutting. Boeing maintains 10 multimedia rooms at its Everett, Washington, complex for the use of collaboration teams. These are open 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. A visualization application developed by Boeing allows the teams to do real-time design reviews of complex geometry without any Lag time as the models load. Meetings are conducted in English, with sidebar conversations, as needed, in a team member’s native language. Collaborative design also speeds the design process, helping Boeing to avoid expensive penalties from its customers if the plane is not delivered on time, and it gives the company more flexibility in simultaneously designing multiple versions of the 787 that are part of its wide-ranging appeal in the marketplace. Finished designs are stored in another Dassult product, Enovia, which is also maintained by Boeing. This has become an enormous data-management task. The issue of security has also been a concern; however, security technology has developed to the point that the security of the information is assured. Collaboration across cultures and time zones can raise a host of issues about the way people work together. The adjustment of management practice to the networked, team-oriented approach is important to consider when redesigning human resources practices to meet virtual resource needs and when developing a custom-tailored collaboration platform.

File Sharing Software essays

File Sharing Software essays One of the most controversial technological innovations of the past decade or more, file sharing software applications have transformed the ways people view intellectual property. In fact, intellectual property has only recently been a subject of popular debate, since the newsworthy demise of Napster. With the advent of the Internet and subsequent software developments, computer users worldwide have been able to upload, download, and share files, many of which contain copyrighted material. In some ways, this type of file sharing seems to fall under the "fair use" clauses in copyright laws, which dictate that individual consumers are free to make a few personal copies of material for limited use. However, file sharing software calls into question the extent of "fair use" because potentially millions of people could have access to one copyrighted file. File sharing therefore raises a host of ethical and legal conundrums. First, the creators of the copyrighted material: musicians, writers, or software engineers, are potentially losing money. After all, they are receiving no revenues from the freely distributed materials. On the other hand, sharing files via the Internet may not be damaging creative professionals as much as we think. File sharing applications and the compressed material that is being shared is imperfect: MP3 files will never approach CD quality sound and will never come replete with the glossy books or other presentation material that a store-bought product contains. Moreover, most music connoisseurs don't mind forking over a few bucks to support their favorite artists. Similarly, pirated software is unusable much of the time, as the "cracks" don't always work and the software itself comes with glitches due to the reproduction process. In general, file sharing is a fun and exciting technological development but poses little actual threat to professionals who rely on intel...

Free Essays on The Star

â€Å"The Star†. â€Å"The universe has no purpose and no plan that since a hundred suns explode every year in our galaxy, at this very moment some race is dying in the depths of the space. Whether that race done good or evil during its lifetime will make no difference in the end: there is no divine justice, for there is no God.† I would love to believe that when I die I will live again, that some part of e will continue. Bu as much as I want to believe that, I know of nothing to suggest that it is more than wishful thinking. Of various arguments made for the existence of a supreme being, there’s only one that I think deserves serious attention. It’s called â€Å"The Argument from Design†, and basically runs like this: If you examine a watch, you would be very likely to conclude that somebody made it, because it is such a complex object. It would seem to be very unreasonable to consider that it could have happened by any conceivable kind of chance or event: an intelligent kind of being must have made it. Similarly, if you examine the Universe, and the amazing things in it, such as living things, you find such complexity that it would seem that it must have been made so. Purely random process could not have generated the incredible complexity of a microbe. Let alone human beings, and the Universe. Even if the Universe was designed by a God there is no way to know if this god endorses any particular religion, or it any of the characteristics assigned to it by that or any other religion-such as requiring us to worship and price it. If I created some artificial universe, say a computer simulation- why ever would I want my little forms to worship me? Where as in the concept of religion Heaven for the chosen few, and Hell for the majority of human kind. Why should billons of souls suffer eternal torment who never even heard of that particular god, or for having thought deeply and having concluded, as rationally as they could, ... Free Essays on The Star Free Essays on The Star â€Å"The Star†. â€Å"The universe has no purpose and no plan that since a hundred suns explode every year in our galaxy, at this very moment some race is dying in the depths of the space. Whether that race done good or evil during its lifetime will make no difference in the end: there is no divine justice, for there is no God.† I would love to believe that when I die I will live again, that some part of e will continue. Bu as much as I want to believe that, I know of nothing to suggest that it is more than wishful thinking. Of various arguments made for the existence of a supreme being, there’s only one that I think deserves serious attention. It’s called â€Å"The Argument from Design†, and basically runs like this: If you examine a watch, you would be very likely to conclude that somebody made it, because it is such a complex object. It would seem to be very unreasonable to consider that it could have happened by any conceivable kind of chance or event: an intelligent kind of being must have made it. Similarly, if you examine the Universe, and the amazing things in it, such as living things, you find such complexity that it would seem that it must have been made so. Purely random process could not have generated the incredible complexity of a microbe. Let alone human beings, and the Universe. Even if the Universe was designed by a God there is no way to know if this god endorses any particular religion, or it any of the characteristics assigned to it by that or any other religion-such as requiring us to worship and price it. If I created some artificial universe, say a computer simulation- why ever would I want my little forms to worship me? Where as in the concept of religion Heaven for the chosen few, and Hell for the majority of human kind. Why should billons of souls suffer eternal torment who never even heard of that particular god, or for having thought deeply and having concluded, as rationally as they could, ...

Stephen F. Austin, Founding Father of Texan Independence

Stephen F. Austin, Founding Father of Texan Independence Stephen F. Austin (November 3, 1793–December 27, 1836) was a lawyer, settler, and administrator who played a key role in the secession of Texas from Mexico. He brought hundreds of U.S. families into Texas on behalf of the Mexican government, which wished to populate the isolated northern state. Fast Facts: Stephen F. Austin Known For: Key role in the U.S. colonization of Texas and its succession from MexicoBorn: November 3, 1793 in VirginiaParents: Moses Austin and Mary Brown AustinDied: December 27, 1836 in Austin TexasEducation: Bacon Academy, Transylvania UniversitySpouse: NoneChildren: None At first, Austin was a diligent agent for Mexico, but later he became a fierce fighter for Texas independence and is today remembered in Texas as one of the most important founding fathers of the state. Early  Life Stephen Fuller Austin was born in Virginia on November 3, 1793, the third child and first of two sons of Moses Austin and Mary Brown. Moses was a businessman and lead mine owner, and he began his working life in Philadelphia, where he met in 1784 and married Mary Brown, known as Maria. Moses ran a mercantile business in Richmond, Virginia with his brother Stephen. Moses and Marys first daughter Anna Maria was born and died in Richmond in 1787. In 1788, Moses and Stephen and their families moved to Wythe County, Virginia to own and operate a lead mine. In a settlement which would become known as Austinville, Moses and Mary had Eliza (1790–1790), Stephen (1793–1836), and Emily (1795–1851). In 1796, Moses Austin traveled to the Spanish colony of St. Louis on the Mississippi River now in eastern Missouri, where he finagled permission from the commandant to search for a new lead mine near Ste. Genevieve. He moved his family to Ste. Genevieve in 1798, where the last Austin sibling, James Elijah Brown, was born (1803–1829). Education In 1804, Stephen, age 11, was sent off by himself to Connecticut, where relatives found him a good school to attend: the Bacon Academy in Colchester, where he studied English grammar and writing, logic, rhetoric, geometry, geography, and a little Latin and Greek. He graduated in 1807 and was then sent to Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky, where he studied math, geography, and astronomy. He then in 1810 with a certificate. Stephen arrived back in Ste. Genevieve in 1810, where his father put him in a prominent role in the mercantile business. For the next several years, Stephen Austins informal education included time spent in New Orleans with a shipment of lead during the War of 1812, as a militiaman harassing Native Americans in what is today central Illinois, and taking over the lead mine when his father grew too ill to continue. In New Orleans, he contracted malaria, which he never fully recovered from. And, in 1815, Stephen Austin ran for a seat in what was now the Missouri territorial legislature, taking his position in the lower House in December. Moses Austin eventually lost his fortune in lead mining and traveled westward to Texas, where the elder Austin fell in love with the ruggedly beautiful lands of Texas and secured permission from Spanish authorities- Mexico was not yet independent- to bring a group of settlers there. Moses fell ill and died in 1821: His final wish was that Stephen complete his settlement project. Settlement of Texas Stephen Austin’s planned settlement of Texas hit many snags between 1821 and 1830, not the least of which was the fact that Mexico achieved independence in 1821, meaning he had to re-negotiate his father’s grant. Emperor Iturbide of Mexico came and went, leading to further confusion. Attacks by Native American tribes such as the Comanche were a constant problem, and Austin very nearly went broke meeting his obligations. Still, he persevered, and by 1830 he was in charge of a thriving colony of settlers, nearly all of whom had accepted Mexican citizenship and converted to Roman Catholicism. Although Austin remained staunchly pro-Mexican, Texas itself was becoming more and more American in nature. By 1830 or so, mostly Anglo-American settlers outnumbered Mexicans in the Texas territory by almost 10 to 1. The rich land drew not only legitimate settlers, such as those in Austin’s colony, but also squatters and other unauthorized settlers who simply moved in, selected some land, and set up a homestead. Austin’s colony was the most important settlement, however, and the families there had begun raising cotton, mules, and other goods for export, much of which went through New Orleans. These differences and others convinced many that Texas should leave Mexico and become part of the U.S. or independent. The Trip to Mexico City In 1833 Austin went to Mexico City to clear up some business with the Mexican Federal government. He was bringing new demands from the Texas settlers, including separation from Coahuila (Texas and Coahuila were one state at the time) and reduced taxes. Meanwhile, he sent letters home hoping to placate those Texans who favored outright separation from Mexico. Some of Austin’s letters home, including some telling Texans to go ahead and begin to declare statehood before the approval of the federal government, made their way to officials in Mexico City. While returning to Texas, Austin was arrested, brought back to Mexico City, and thrown into jail. Austin was in jail in Mexico City for a year and a half: he was never tried or even formally charged with anything. It is perhaps ironic that the Mexicans jailed one Texan who was at least initially inclined to keep Texas part of Mexico. As it was, Austin’s jailing probably sealed Texas’ fate. Released in August of 1835, Austin returned to Texas a changed man. His loyalty to Mexico had been ground out of him in prison, and he realized now that Mexico would never grant the rights his people desired. Also, by the time he returned in late 1835, it was clear that Texas was on a path destined for conflict with Mexico and that it was too late for a peaceful solution. When push came to shove, Austin would choose Texas over Mexico. The Texas Revolution Not long after Austins return, Texas rebels fired on Mexican soldiers in the town of Gonzales: the Battle of Gonzales, as it came to be known, marked the beginning of the military phase of the Texas Revolution. Not long after, Austin was named commander of all Texan military forces. Along with Jim Bowie and James Fannin, he marched on San Antonio, where Bowie and Fannin won the Battle of Concepcià ³n. Austin returned to the town of San Felipe, where delegates from all over Texas were meeting to determine its fate. At the convention, Austin was replaced as military commander by Sam Houston. Even Austin, whose health was still frail after 1812 bout with malaria, was in favor of the change: His brief stint as General had proven decisively that he was no military man. Instead, he was given a job much better suited to his abilities. He would be the Texas envoy to the United States, where he would seek official recognition if Texas declared independence, purchase and send weapons, encourage volunteers to take up arms and head to Texas, and see to other important tasks. Return to Texas Austin made his way to Washington, stopping along the way at key cities such as New Orleans and Memphis, where he gave speeches, encouraged volunteers to go to Texas, secured loans (usually to be repaid in Texas land after independence), and met with officials. He was a big hit and always drew a large crowd. Texas effectively gained independence on April 21, 1836, at the Battle of San Jacinto,  and Austin returned not long after. Death He lost the election to be the first president of the Republic of Texas to Sam Houston, who appointed him Secretary of State. Austin fell ill of pneumonia and died on December 27, 1836. Legacy Austin was a hardworking, honorable man caught up in times of sweeping change and chaos. He was a skillful colony administrator, a canny diplomat, and a diligent lawyer. The only thing he tried that he did not excel at was war. After leading the Texas army to San Antonio, he quickly and happily turned command over to Sam Houston, who was much more suited to the job. Austin was only 43 when he died: the young Republic of Texas could have used his guidance in the years of war and uncertainty that followed its independence. It is a little misleading that Austins name is usually associated with the Texas Revolution. Up until 1835, Austin was the leading proponent of working things out with Mexico, and at that time his was the most influential voice in Texas. Austin remained loyal to Mexico long after most men in Texas were rebelling. Only after a year and a half in jail and a first-hand look at the anarchy in Mexico City did he decide that Texas must set out on its own. Once he made the decision, he threw himself wholeheartedly into revolution. The people of Texas consider Austin one of their greatest heroes. The city of Austin is named after him, as are countless streets, parks, and schools, including Austin College and Stephen F. Austin State University. Sources: Brands, H.W. Lone Star Nation: The Epic Story of the Battle for Texas Independence.New York: Anchor Books, 2004.Cantrell, Gregg. Stephen F. Austin: Empresario of Texas. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 1999.Henderson, Timothy J. A Glorious Defeat: Mexico and its War with the United StatesNew York: Hill and Wang, 2007.

Finance Questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Finance Questions - Essay Example Enron established several limited liability special purpose entities which kept inflating its stock price untill the scandal was discovered. Similarly, Satyam, an Indian IT firm was found guilty of forging account books by creating fictitious assets in a sister company. 3. The concept of time value of money can be used to calculate the monthly installment to be paid for a mortgage for a given time period. Similarly, if a person can’t pay more than a certain amount per month, the number of years of payment of mortgage can be calculated using the time value of money. 4. The primary risk for investment in bonds in interest rates. Hence, in a rising interest rate scenario, bonds will give lower returns. Higher inflation also makes bonds less attractive. Other risks associated with bonds are default risk of the issuer, lack of liquidity in the market and provision of call back (Hofman, 2010). 5. Zero coupon bonds pay the entire interest at maturity unlike other bonds and generally give maximum yields. High net worth investors looking for long term investments generally invest in these bonds. Banks and big corporations are interested in these bonds. 6. Risk is incorporated in capital budgeting by either by using a higher discount rate or by requiring a higher annual return on the project. Systemic and unsystemic risks are included by using Beta and standard deviation of the returns. Hofman, Julian. 2010. Bond risks and rewards. Retrieved online 07 February, 2012 from

Is cheating wrong Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Is cheating wrong - Essay Example ntage in competitions it is considered to be violation of objective sports rules, because the results under dope aren’t the objective estimation of abilities of the sportsman’s body. That’s why dope-control was invented to make sports results objective, otherwise sports would have become a competition of the best dopes invented. Thinking about such global realms as politics cheating is even worse here. When we face with such thing as ballot-box stuffing on elections we always consider it as an outrage of human’s rights and the main principles of democracy. If a politician wins elections using illegal cheatings than lately his directory can lead to terrible consequences and the entire country can suffer. Any cheating is violation of the objective and moral principles established long time ago. If we start considering cheating as something normal it will mean that we allow people to do whatever they want. And when the forbidden principles become allowed it means that we lose the fringe between good and bad, which itself is very

Value Creation - Mergers and Acquisitions in the Banking Industry Thesis

Value Creation - Mergers and Acquisitions in the Banking Industry - Thesis Example The dominance of the US and Europe in the current global financial services landscape means that most European and American banks enter new markets outside their region through transatlantic M&As. These developments are not lost on bank CEOs, who must keep a watchful eye on competitors’ strategies and assess what these acquisition moves mean to their own bank’s position. With their massive increases in market capitalization due to mergers, leading banks are in a strong position to invest heavily in new products or services and to make even larger acquisitions. This would pose a significant competitive threat that would require other banks to respond. Indeed, all acquisitions will result from value enhancing unless there exists some element of market inefficiency, i.e., imperfect competition in either the product and/or labour market and/or agency conflicts. Most large mergers and acquisitions fall short of achieving the desired synergies. In January 1999, The Economist reported that study after study of past merger waves has shown that two of every three deals have not worked. And at least 50% of major mergers since 1990 have eroded shareholder returns. Reasons for failed mergers are diverse and complex, but most can be attributed to losing something: critical people, customers, market confidence. Uncontrolled costs, hidden losses, unrealized benefits, avoiding decisions, cultural barriers, and power struggles can also undermine the most promising unions. Despite the high failure rate, M&As that succeed can pay large dividends. The most successful acquiring firms have clearly established and well-understood acquisition processes, both for ensuring good strategic decisions before the acquisition decision is made and for integrating the acquired firm once the deal is complete. This has created an interest amongst other banking firms to make a research on the M&As and the reasons behind their success or failure.  Ã‚  

Tattoos & Body Piercing Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Tattoos & Body Piercing - Research Paper Example It is also used to express loyalty to worldly or divine lords as in Mexican culture where they inscribed their gods and idols in the tattoos. In South America, tribes tattooed their warriors to reaffirm their success in wars. Albeit in Japan, tattoos were used as a punishment for the sinners and criminals. However, in everyday lives, tattooing and body piercing hold a different meaning for each individual who goes into the process of acquiring it. Some people might get a tattoo because the design holds significance in their lives or they want to remember an important phase or event in their lives through that tattoo. It might also be acquired to represent the rebellion against the status quo or those in authority for instance teenagers worldwide get tattoos and body piercings to express their disobedience to their parents who are rarely fond of these activities.   The modern-day tattooing is made a lot easier, thanks to scientific development and new laser technologies. One of the forms of body art, which has descended down from ancient times and successfully transited in the cultures of modern times, is henna art. Made of natural herbs, it is used to decorate hands and feet of women in eastern cultures on their weddings and other occasions marking rites of passage. However, most people, more significantly in the west, have proceeded to tattoo culture to show their rebellion to the status quo and express their opinions with more freedom and aggression (Sawyer, 97). However, as easy as it is recent times to get a piercing or tattoo, the hazards it causes to health cannot be overemphasized. First, it is a permanent body art, removing a tattoo may be difficult and very expensive since it involves the use of high-tech instruments. Second, the tattoos are highly prone to infections and skin allergies. The red dye used in tattoos usually causes rashes, sometimes years after getting a tattoo. The infections caused by tattoos are mainly bacterial and appear as sores and pus-like forms. Often, granulomas, a bump-like structure, from around the tattoo due to the ink dye used.  

Hazardous Waste Contamination & Treatment Risk Assessment Geohydrology Essay

Hazardous Waste Contamination & Treatment Risk Assessment Geohydrology & Contaminant Transport - Essay Example In 1981, it was discovered by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, that the company was disposing its waste inappropriately, through pouring the waste sludge on the parking lot, while also disposing the solvents into an a drain leading to an abandoned septic system (NPL, 2013). The health department of the state then tested the wells in the vicinity of the company and found them to be contaminated with Trichloroethylene (TCE). The company then installed carbon filters on its well system and those of some neighboring homes, but later closed down in 1985, without fulfilling the requirement for the waste and toxic contaminant cleanup (NPL, 2013). b. How it was contaminated The sludge dumped by this company on the drainage system and parking lot was found to contain a hazardous contaminant called Trichloroethylene (NPL, 2013). The company found its way on the Superfund Site List in December 1982, after having dumped waste products in the form of sludge and solvent s on its site, since 1968 to 1981 (NPL, 2013). c. The contaminants of concern Trichloroethylene (TCE) is a colorless liquid that is used as a solvent to remove grease from any metallic components, and is also used as a component in spot removers, paint removers and also adhesives (NPL, 2013). This colorless liquid has a sweet scented smell and is inflammable, and the sweet scent is even projected when the substance is burning. Trichloroethylene as a contaminant dissolves in little water, but remains longer in ground water, especially in the water wells (NPL, 2013). However, considering that it is vaporizable, whenever it comes into the surface of soils or water, the chemical components vaporizes into the air, but it vaporizes slowly from the soil than surface waters, considering that it attaches to particles and can remain there for long. Despite the fact that it does not build-up easily in plants and animals, trichloroethylene sticks to water and soil particles, which eventually ca uses it to settle down at the lower sediment levels in a water body or a water wells (NPL, 2013). The trichloroethylene exposure can occur through breathing in air that contains the vapors of the chemical, or even through drinking or swimming in the water that is already contaminated by the chemical (NPL, 2013). It can also be contacted through using showering water that is already contaminated with the trichloroethylene chemical component, this time through breathing in the vapors and also through skin contact. The health effects of trichloroethylene on humans depends on the amount that is ether ingested or breathed in. when small amounts of trichloroethylene are breathed in, they may cause the individual to suffer from headaches, dizziness and lung irritations (NPL, 2013). However, when the amount of the trichloroethylene breathed increases, it may cause more fatal health conditions, such as unconsciousness and impaired heart functions and to the extreme, death (NPL, 2013). Additi onally, whenever trichloroethylene is breathed for long, notwithstanding that it could be in small amounts, it can easily result to the damage of the nerves, as well as the damage and impairment of the kidney and the liver (NPL, 2013). The same effects of breathing large amounts of trichloroethylene are also felt whenever large amounts of the same chemical compound is ingested through drinking, where impaired heart

The effect of electricity supply on Nigeria economy in Oyo state Dissertation

The effect of electricity supply on Nigeria economy in Oyo state - Dissertation Example This study has been made to find the answer to the following questions: How has monopolization in the power sector by the government affected the availability of electricity in the country? Has liberalization led to greater access to electricity at the commercial levels in the state? The Nigerian economy is a developing economy and a major portion of its gross domestic product is a contribution from the small enterprises operating indigenously. For big commercial purposes as well as for small-scale businesses in the modern day scenario electricity is indispensable. There is a unidirectional relationship between electricity consumption of a country and gross domestic product of that country. Nigeria has been plagued with perennial problems of energy crises for almost two decades now; problems are an erratic supply of electrical power is prominent among them. According to the reports published by the government of Nigeria, only 45 percent of the population in the country can consume el ectricity in their daily needs. Among them, a meager 25 percent are rural dwellers. There are vast potential for development in the country for growth in terms of setting up provisions of electricity. The rural states in the country, such as Oyo are yet to have enough access to electricity. This necessitates a study on electricity supply in the states in Nigeria. This study takes Oyo as a representative of the rural areas in the economy to conduct a research on this statement regarding the level of consumption of electricity by the country’s small businesses.... This study has been made to find answer to the following questions: How has monopolization in the power sector by the government affected availability of electricity in the country? Has liberalization led to greater access to electricity at the commercial levels in the state? Therefore the main research question can be stated as â€Å"How has the supply of electricity in Oyo State in Nigeria affected the small businesses in the state?† The study would be conducted following a guideline of certain specific objectives. These objectives would help the researcher concentrate on the aim of conducting the research thereby helping her to complete the research successfully. The research objectives are as mentioned below: To study the level of electricity supply in the rural areas in Nigeria To understand the extent to which commercial and industrial activities in these areas are dependent on electric power To study how modern policy changes have affected power supply in the rural area s in the country Project approach This section of this project is dedicated to present a summarized project plan. The aim of this project is to study a serious issue that has far reaching effects in the social, political and economic spheres in the country. However, this research work is constrained by several factors, such as time and resources, and therefore devising an appropriate project plan is very much necessary (Blackwell, n.d.). This plan sets the context of the research, the design of research and the methodology to be followed (Bangor University, 2013). The project plan is made taking into consideration the theme of the project and the competence of the researcher who is going to execute the relevant activities that the study would

Hazardous Waste Contamination & Treatment Risk Assessment Geohydrology Essay

Hazardous Waste Contamination & Treatment Risk Assessment Geohydrology & Contaminant Transport - Essay Example In 1981, it was discovered by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, that the company was disposing its waste inappropriately, through pouring the waste sludge on the parking lot, while also disposing the solvents into an a drain leading to an abandoned septic system (NPL, 2013). The health department of the state then tested the wells in the vicinity of the company and found them to be contaminated with Trichloroethylene (TCE). The company then installed carbon filters on its well system and those of some neighboring homes, but later closed down in 1985, without fulfilling the requirement for the waste and toxic contaminant cleanup (NPL, 2013). b. How it was contaminated The sludge dumped by this company on the drainage system and parking lot was found to contain a hazardous contaminant called Trichloroethylene (NPL, 2013). The company found its way on the Superfund Site List in December 1982, after having dumped waste products in the form of sludge and solvent s on its site, since 1968 to 1981 (NPL, 2013). c. The contaminants of concern Trichloroethylene (TCE) is a colorless liquid that is used as a solvent to remove grease from any metallic components, and is also used as a component in spot removers, paint removers and also adhesives (NPL, 2013). This colorless liquid has a sweet scented smell and is inflammable, and the sweet scent is even projected when the substance is burning. Trichloroethylene as a contaminant dissolves in little water, but remains longer in ground water, especially in the water wells (NPL, 2013). However, considering that it is vaporizable, whenever it comes into the surface of soils or water, the chemical components vaporizes into the air, but it vaporizes slowly from the soil than surface waters, considering that it attaches to particles and can remain there for long. Despite the fact that it does not build-up easily in plants and animals, trichloroethylene sticks to water and soil particles, which eventually ca uses it to settle down at the lower sediment levels in a water body or a water wells (NPL, 2013). The trichloroethylene exposure can occur through breathing in air that contains the vapors of the chemical, or even through drinking or swimming in the water that is already contaminated by the chemical (NPL, 2013). It can also be contacted through using showering water that is already contaminated with the trichloroethylene chemical component, this time through breathing in the vapors and also through skin contact. The health effects of trichloroethylene on humans depends on the amount that is ether ingested or breathed in. when small amounts of trichloroethylene are breathed in, they may cause the individual to suffer from headaches, dizziness and lung irritations (NPL, 2013). However, when the amount of the trichloroethylene breathed increases, it may cause more fatal health conditions, such as unconsciousness and impaired heart functions and to the extreme, death (NPL, 2013). Additi onally, whenever trichloroethylene is breathed for long, notwithstanding that it could be in small amounts, it can easily result to the damage of the nerves, as well as the damage and impairment of the kidney and the liver (NPL, 2013). The same effects of breathing large amounts of trichloroethylene are also felt whenever large amounts of the same chemical compound is ingested through drinking, where impaired heart

CURRENT ISSUES IN FINANCIAL REPORTING Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

CURRENT ISSUES IN FINANCIAL REPORTING - Essay Example The amendments are intended to clarify what can be designated as a hedged item in a hedge accounting relationship. The exposure draft specifies the risks that qualify for designation as hedged risks when an entity hedges its exposure to a financial instrument. In addition, it clarifies when an entity may designate a portion of the cash flows of a financial instrument as a hedged item. Whether a hedge relationship can be designated in this way depends upon whether it is possible to designate as a hedged item a portion of the forecast cash flows that is equivalent to a theoretical sold option embedded in the hedged item. The exposure draft explains how this can be done. In July 2007, the International Financial Reporting Interpretations Committee (IFRIC) issued Interpretation 1 4, IAS 19-The Limit on a Defined Benefit Asset Minimum Funding Requirements and Their Interaction, which addressed defined benefit pension assets and their minimum funding requirements. Exposure Draft has resolv ed many issues of financial reporting which are discussed below: This proposal provides guidance for valuing assets and liabilities that are required to be measured at fair value under other pronouncements. The ultimate goal of the fair-value project is to improve comparability, consistency, and reliability of fair-value measurements by creating a model that can be broadly applied to financial and non-financial assets and liabilities. The framework would also remove policies that disagree with SEC guidelines for investment funds, and clarify the use of fair-value measurements in other authoritative pronouncements. The exposure draft would not replace, but instead would expand upon, current disclosures relating to the use of fair-value measurements for assets and liabilities. Disclosures would include information about fair-value amounts, how they are determined, and the effect of any remeasurement on earnings, including unrealized gains and losses (Aldridge, 1997). Tax uncertainties Once it is determined that a benefit for a tax position may be recognized, the amount must be determined based on the best estimate of the amount that will be sustained. The "best estimate" is defined as the single most likely amount in a range of possible estimated amounts. For example, if a company believes that its position would be sustained on litigation, but typically settles with the taxing jurisdiction to avoid the expense and hazards of litigation, it would record the most likely settlement amount as the benefit. Fundamentally, the proposal entails that a tax position recognized on the tax return be probable of being sustained under audit prior to recognition in the financial statements, and the company must presume that the taxing authorities will review it. In order to derecognize, it must be more likely than not (Glanville, 2004). Business Combination Exposure draft gives some recommendation to avoid any issues, which may arise during business combination, which are: 1. All business combinat

The Development Of Fundamental Movement Skills

The Development Of Fundamental Movement Skills The Development on Fundamental Movement Skills (FMS) during childhood is important for the development of that child as well as them being successful in sport, so they can learn other life skills. (Okely Booth 2004) To understand when Children should start to learn FMS is to understand the long term development model (LTD), knowing this will help indentify when children need to learn which skill by which age. (Balyi, 2004). During the first stage of the LTD is the FUNdametal stage which focuses on children aged 6-9. During this stage the children starts to learn the basic Fundamental movement patterns. Learning these skills is important as they are the building blocks to sport specific, for example kicking is a base in a number of skills in football, If a Child learns these skills it will contribute significantly their future athletic achievements (Balyi, 2004). Once the Child reaches 9 and 11 it is the most important periods of skills development, during this period they are developed enough to learn and complete general overall sports skills (Balyi, 2004). It has been recommended that all Children should of mastered all the basic FMS by the age of 8 (Gallahue and Ozmun, 2006) Jess et al (2004) also reported the importance of FMS stating that they allow children to pass through a proficiency barrier to allow the development of skills in the future. Booth et al (2004) reported that in a random sample of Year 4, Year 6, Year 8 and Year 10 children that less than 40% had mastered all the skills using subjective measures, suggesting that when the children should be learning FMS skills they are not developing them in the correct way There have been a number of studies that have looked on how to measure FMS mastery. The 2 main methods reported are objective and subjective. Objective measures are the result of the skill, i.e. the time taken to run 10 meters or the number of catches. The advantage of using objective measures is it allows a high level inter and intra and Inter-rater reliability over attempts and measurers (Spray 1987). Another important is the tester does not need a high level of knowledge about the skill (Hands Larkin, 1998). The second way to measure FMS is using subjective measures. This is done by using a checklist for each FMS that identifies coaching points that the subject needs to do while completing the skill. Knudson and Morrison (1997) defined subjective measures or qualitative analysis as the systematic observation and introspective judgment of movement and skills for the purpose of improving that skill. The checklist which will be used in this study is The New South Wales Fundamental Movement Skills (NSWFMS) guidelines (2000), this is a resource for primary school children. The advantage of using subjective measures is that it can help identify one point in the skill that is weak. That information can then lead to trying to develop that weakness (Hands, 2000). However the criteria can be read and identified differently by different assessors. In terms of research in the area of what affects FMS movement skills there has been a lot reported in what factors affect FMS ability. It has been reported that Physical Activity level (Fisher et al 2004) has an effect on FMS ability with Children who take part in more physical activity have better FMS skills. There has also been mixed views on the effect of gender on FMS skills, Fisher et al (2004) reported no difference in fundamental scores between boys and girls, however. Okley and Booth (2004) reported that boys did better than girls in the sprinting and the object control skills, which in this study would be the throw and catch, the girls performed better in the rest of the locomoter skills which in this case is the balance. The reason for this difference could be done to what reported that FMS are affected more by the activities done by boys while girls are affected by psychosocial or environmental factors (Cliff 2009). There has been however a small majority of research looking at how age effects FMS. Okely Booth (2004) did one such study looking at using subjective measures and found for certain parts on FMS Skills, Year 3 Children had mastered the skill better than Year 1 Children. For Example only 1.5% of the year 1 boys and 0% of girls completed the hips then shoulders rotate forward coaching point for the throw compared to 13.5% of year 1 boys and 1.7% of year 3 girls. It is also important to note with regards to age that even Children in the same year can be further developed, meaning their body can do more and they may be able to process the FMS in formation easier. It is important to understand this when the analysing results as one Year 6 child could be biologically more developed than another and therefore be able to perform the skill better. (Gallahue and Ozmun 2006). This paper will therefore look at age and specifically the difference between year 1 and 6 children due the lack of research looking at Year 6 Children and the fact it has been reported that all Children should have mastered FMS by Year 8. The study will also use subjective and objective to get a better idea of which children have mastered the skills. The results can be used to see what areas of each skill children are failing to master and then interventions can be designed to improve them as it has been reported that a well-planned and implemented fundamental movement skill intervention in has an effect on childrens motor skills, physical activity levels and will keep the child interested in Physical Education. Section 2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES AND HYPOTHESIS Aim The Aim of the study is to assess Fundamental Movement Skill (FMS) mastery in primary school children, to examine if there is a relationship between subjective and objective for FMS and to compare mastery of these skills by children in Year 1 and Year 6. Objectives To measure Fundamental Movement Skills in Year 1 and Year 6 children To analysis the skills using the New South Wales Criteria To study the relationship between year groups and the subjective and objective measures Hypothesis The Year 6 children will have high objective and subjective measures for all the FMS than the Year 1 children. Section 3: EXPERIMENTAL METHODS The Children will be tested for 2 hours in a normal PE lesson for 2 separate weeks. Each Child will be asked to wear suitable kit and footwear. The school sports hall where normal PE lessons take place will be used as the testing site once a risk assessment form was completing and checking the sports hall is suitable to complete the testing. These checks will be done before each testing session. Also ethical approval will need to be given before any testing can take place. Also before testing each child will undertake a warm up overseen by a PE Specialist. Subject Population A sample of 30 Children aged 10-11 (year 6) and 30 children ages 5-6 years (year 1) will be recruited for this study from a local primary school in Coventry. Informed consent from the parents will be obtained as well as agreement from the Child as each participant is under the age of 18. Fundamental Movement Skill Measurements Both subjective and objective measures will be measured, with the subjective being taken while the child performs one of the skill trails. The subjective measures will be analysed using The New South Wales Fundamental Movement Skills (NSWFMS) guidelines (2000) (see appendix for criteria). Using Qunitic Software each video will be watched 5 times and notational analysis will be used to measure how many of the skill components have been achieved. This will give an overall percentage of how that Child has mastered the skill. That will compare to the actual result for that skill. The criteria will also be used during the demonstration to allow the children to know all the points that make up the skill, also no feedback will be given after each attempt. Fundamental Movement Skills Each Child will complete 5 fundamental movement skills, (Balance, Kicking, Catching, Throwing and sprinting). A description of what each test involves is shown below. FMS Test Method Balance Subjective Measures For the subjective measures the children will be asked to Stand on their dominant leg, children will be asked to stay as upright and still as possible keeping eyes forwards for 20 seconds, with their other leg bent. Objective Measures The objective measures will involve the children balancing for 20 seconds on a balance board device (Tunturi by MFT, Germany) connected to a laptop, The percentage of time spent on either side (left/right) will be used as the measurement. Each Child will have a practice before being called up/ inputted into the laptop system. Catch Subjective Measures The Children will move their body to become in line with the travelling path of a soft tennis sized ball, a thrown by the researcher and PE specialist in a measured square area of 1m by 1m. Objective Measures The number of successful catches the children make out of 3 will be recorded. Jump Subjective Measures The Children will be asked to start with knees bent and then using their arms for momentum, jump up as high as possible into the air. Objective Measures The Childrens jump height of the jump will measured using Quintic Biomechanics software (Quintic Biomechanics v17 software, Coventry, UK) and recorded in meters. Throw Subjective Measures The Children will throw a small soft ball over-arm, towards a target placed on the sports hall wall. Objective Measures Points will be awarded to determine the precision of the throw. There were three sections, each with different amounts to justify the accuracy of the throw. Sprint Subjective Measures Children will be asked to ran as fast as they could along the 10 m measured track and then joined the back of the queue. The time will be recorded as use as the measure. Objective Measures Children will be ask to sprint as fast as they could down a 10m track, split times will be recorded at 5m and 10m using the SMARTSPEED timing gate system (SMARTSPEED, UK). Any children will also be able to withdraw their assent and not take part even if their parents/guardian has given informed consent, at any time during the testing. Statistical analysis A combination of correlations and ANOVAs will be used to examine the relationship between the objective measures and the subjective measures but also each of the two year groups. Microsoft Excel will be used to produce the graphs and SPSS will be sued for the statistical analysis. Section 4: PROPOSED TIME PLAN Date Action to be completed before deadline 6th December 2010 Complete and hand in Project Proposal 10th 24th January 2011 Go to schools and collect data ready for analysis 27th January 4th February 2011 Complete data collection, produce table of results and complete graphs 4th- 8th February 2011 Complete data analysis 10th- 20th February 2011 Write discussion and put in info from proposal such as Introduction and Methods. 21st February 2011 Check final project with supervisor and compile lab file 23rd- 1st March 2011 Check for any errors in project and print out 2 copies ready for binding 11th March 2011 Hand in 2 copies of the thesis and lab file. 12th March 2011 5th April Revise for Viva Seminar Section Five: REFERANCES Balyi I., Hamilton A. (2004) Long-Term Athlete Development: Trainability in Childhood and Adolescence. Windows of Opportunity. Optimal Trainability.Victoria: National Coaching Institute British Columbia Advanced Training and Performance Ltd. Booth M, Macaskill, P, McLellan L. (1997) NSW Schools Fitness and Physical Activity Survey. Sydney. NSW Department of School Education. Cliff, D, P., Okely, A.D,. Smith, L.M and McKeen, K. Relationships Between Fundamental Movement Skills and Objectively Measured Physical Activity in Preschool Children. Pediatric Exercise Science, 2009, 21, 436-449 Fisher, A., Reilly J.J., Kelly, L.A., Montgomery, C., Williamson, A., Payton, J.Y., Grant, S., (2004) Fundamental Movement Skills and Habitual Physical Activity in Young Children Official Journal of the American College of Sports Medicine. 684-688. Gallahue, D, L and Ozmun, J,C. (2006) 6th edn. Understanding Motor Development: Infants, Children, Adolescents, Adults, USA: McGraw Hill Hands, B. (2000) How can we best measure fundamental movement skills? Health Sciences Conference Papers. Paper 5. Hands, B., Larkin, D. (1998). Australian tests of motor proficiency: What do we have and what do we need? The ACHPER Healthy Lifestyles Journal, 45(4),10-16. Hands, B. Martin, M (2003) Implementing a Fundamental Movement Skill program in an early childhood setting: The childrens perspectives Health Sciences Papers and Journal Articles Jess, M., Dewar, K. and Fraser, G. (2004) Basic moves: developing a foundation for lifelong physical activity, British Journal of Teaching in Physical Education 35 (2): 23-7. New South Wales (2000) Move It, Groove It Physical Activity in Primary Schools Summary Report. A NSW Health Physical Activity Demonstration Project (DP 98/1) Okely, A.D Booth, M,L. (2004) Mastery of fundamental movement skills among children in New South Wales: prevalence and sociodemographic distribution Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport 7 (3) 358-372. Spray, J. A. (1987). Recent developments in measurement and possible applications to the measurement of psychomotor behavior. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 58, 203-209. Section 6: APPENDIX