Deployment of Emergency Care Practitioners by UK Ambulance Services Essay

Deployment of Emergency Care Practitioners by UK Ambulance Services - Essay Example The emergency health care practitioners were to be given specific target to emergency 999 calls so that they can provide appropriate care in the community. To make sure that all the health care workers adapt to this plan in a positive manner, an advisory team comprising of nurses was formulated. This team participated in discussions concerning adoption of various processes. This programme was a transformational programme rather than a change programme. Moreover for evaluation purposes, data relating to calls reviewed by nurses was collected and analyzed. Surveys related to patient satisfaction were carried out. These were done by contacting patients through telephone and make them answer a questionnaire. It was looked upon that there is proper accuracy of documentation and that all the call meets the required minimum satisfaction criteria. Peer reflection was also used to identify learning outcomes and improvements required for achieving good standards. Good news stories as well as case study materials are used for demonstration, identification of areas meant for further development. The increasing role of an emergency care practioner has increased job opportunities also. For deployment of the emergency personnel in urgent situations the nurse advisors role was also introduced. This helps to respond in a more appropriate manner. Study conducted on this area has revealed that about 600 to 700 ambulance journeys are saved each month by providing the patient with more appropriate outcome with the sustained expansion of the referral pathways. Analysis of statistics gathered in 2005 showed that almost 74% of the patients seen by the emergency service providers did not require the services of an ambulance. 50% did not require hospital treatment. The East midlands ambulance services team have a wide diversified staff group comprising both male and female workers. The scheme followed by the group has enabled to reflect needs of communities, patients

Motivation Through Acknowledgement Essay Example for Free

Motivation Through Acknowledgement Essay Impact of being a charismatic leader Leadership is about the ability to influence people by personal attributes and behaviours; different leadership qualities may be needed in different circumstances. Charismatic leadership: A charismatic leader is a leader whose followers are attracted to his or her personality and charm. People using this leadership style excel at working a room and making others feel that they are truly important and needed for the leader (and the cause) to be successful. These magnetic leaders do this through actions such as: Direct eye contact Remembering personal details about the person they are speaking with e. g. use of name or enquiry after family/social matters Giving their complete focus to the other person for the time they are with them Reading their surroundings and being skilled at detecting the moods of the audience and Adjusting his or her behaviours and speech to suit the situation at hand. Their approach when leading teams is to have their enthusiasm rubs off on their team members by being extremely positive and energetic. Teams do, however, need more than just a charming leader to keep them sustainable over the long term. Impacts of Charismatic Leadership Selling The Vision: These leaders are often exceptional at selling the vision and getting people to come along for the ride. They are geniuses at helping people to see possibilities and potentials to buy into something bigger than themselves. They are generally masters at weaving stories and anecdotes that enable people to buy into a big dream e.g. JFK leading a nation to put the first man on the moon Inspiring: Their generally optimistic and positive nature draws people to them like a moth to a flame. Often these leaders do inspire people to be at their best and the work environments they create can be very motivating to employees and colleagues alike. Drive Results. A highly charismatic leader can have people willing to walk over hot coals for him or her. Because of this they can achieve results and often get things done that other leadership styles may not. Think Hitler, Lee Iacocca Charismatic leadership is certainly a dynamic and empowering form of leadership, and combined with other styles of leadership, it creates a powerful force that gives people the enthusiasm and  self-management to achieve great results. A leader is a person who has a vision, a drive and a commitment to achieve that vision, and the skills to make it happen. A leader is a person who influences a group of people towards the achievement of a goal.

Roger Williams :: essays research papers

Roger Williams ... A Brief Biography Drypoint etching, 1936, by Arthur W. Heintzelman, commemorating the Tercentenary of the founding of Rhode Island by Roger Williams. Courtesy of Roger Williams University Archives. ROGER WILLIAMS was born in London, circa 1604, the son of James and Alice (Pemberton) Williams. James, the son of Mark and Agnes (Audley) Williams was a "merchant Tailor" (an importer and trader) and probably a man of some importance. His will, proved 19 November 1621, left, in addition to bequests to his "loving wife, Alice," to his sons, Sydrach, Roger and Robert, and to his daughter Catherine, money and bread to the poor in various sections of London. The will of Alice (Pemberton) Williams was admitted to probate 26 January 1634. Among other bequests, she left the sum of Ten Pounds yearly for twenty years to her son, Roger Williams, "now beyond the seas." She further provided that if Roger predeceased her, "what remaineth thereof unpaid ... shall be paid to his wife and daughter...." Obviously, by the time of her death, Roger's mother was aware of the birth in America in 1633 of her grandchild, Mary Williams. Roger's youth was spent in the parish of "St. Sepulchre's, without Newgate, London." While a young man, he must have been aware of the numerous burnings at the stake that had taken place at nearby Smithfield of so-called Puritans or heretics. This probably influenced his later strong beliefs in civic and religious liberty. During his teens, Roger Williams came to the attention of Sir Edward Coke, a brilliant lawyer and one-time Chief Justice of England, through whose influence he was enrolled at Sutton's Hospital, a part of Charter House, a school in London. He next entered Pembroke College at Cambridge University from which he graduated in 1627. All of the literature currently available at Pembroke to prospective students mentions Roger Williams, his part in the Reformation, and his founding of the Colony of Rhode Island. At Pembroke, he was one of eight granted scholarships based on excellence in Latin, Greek and Hebrew. Pembroke College in Providence, once the women's college of Brown University, was named after Pembroke at Cambridge in honor of Roger Williams. In the years after he left Cambridge, Roger Williams was Chaplain to a wealthy family, and on 15 December 1629, he married MARY BARNARD at the Church of High Laver, Essex, England. Even at this time, he became a controversial figure because of his ideas on freedom of worship.

Changes in Soviet Values

Changes in Soviet Values Films in the Soviet Union during Stalin's rule were primarily made for propaganda purposes. Some of the most famous films at the time were â€Å"Chapaev,† â€Å"Circus,† and â€Å"Moscow Doesn't Believe in Tears,† which were all were aimed at describing Soviet Values during and after Stalin's rule. The film â€Å"Chapaev† was produced in 1934 and was set during the Russian Civil War, and like â€Å"Circus,† which was produced two years later, they both reflected Soviet ideals of Stalin's rule. â€Å"Moscow Doesn’t Believe in Tears† was produced in 1980, and it showed the changes in Soviet values after Stalin's reign in the 1950's and 1970's. Even though each of these propaganda films is set in different time periods, each one illustrates the changing social values of that time. The movie â€Å"Chapaev† was directed by the Vasilyev brothers and was produced in 1934. The movie depicts the story of a soldier made commander named Vasily Ivanovich Chapaev, who led the Red Army to victory in the Russian Civil War. The main theme portrayed in â€Å"Chapaev† is the idea of â€Å"social realism,† and to show this the producers tell the story of the Soviet principals of equality within society, and the growth of the party. In one scene of the movie, Chapaev's men loot local farmers, and Chapaev's newly appointed commissar arrests the men involved and return the livestock. Initially, Chapaev was angry with his new commissar for arresting his men, as he feels he was undermining Chapaev's power, but he learned to agree with him because the peasants supported him upon the safe return of their livestock. Chapaev's new commissar explained to him that the entire war was being fought for the peasants, and by stealing from them it was hurting their image. This scene shows the equality within society that the Bolsheviks party was going for, and therefore the party gained more support. This scene in particular was propaganda because in war, armies do steal from farms, that's just a fact, but when they return the livestock it makes the Bolshevik party look patriotic and respectful. In this movie Chapaev is portrayed as a flawless example of what a Soviet man should be like. He is a man who believes in every man being equal and in order for a party to strive it has to be focused on the needs of the group not just the individual. In Soviet History Chapaev is considered a hero and rightly so, his stand against theft and sacrifice for the war effort makes him an ideal Soviet man. The movie â€Å"Circus† was directed by Grigori Aleksandrov and was produced in 1936. Similar to the movie â€Å"Chapaev,† the theme in â€Å"Circus† is focused on equality in the society and the growth of the party. The movie depicts the story of Orlova, an American circus artist who is forced to flee the racism in America after giving birth to a black baby. Orlova ends up in Russia and start her circus career there, and she becomes a huge star. In fear of being exposed, Orlova stays in the circus and works for her cruel German boss von Kneishitz. Von Kneishitz is the only person in Moscow who knows about her black baby, but he is also the only person in Russia who cares that her baby is black. The movie climaxes with the revealing of her baby to her beloved audience, but in contrary to what Kneishitz thought would happen, the audience shows the baby love by passing him around and singing a lullaby to him. When Marion asks the Ring Master to explain everyone’s reaction, he says, â€Å"In our country, we absolutely love children. You may have a child of any color here: black, white, red, or even striped like a zebra or polka-dotted. Whatever's your pleasure! † It cannot be denied that this movie is a propaganda film. It portrays that everyone is equal in the Soviet Union and that everyone is antiracist. In fact, in the 1930's Jews were highly discriminated against, as proof through public anti-Semitism. Therefore, we see the films impression of racial equality as false. The movie â€Å"Moscow Doesn't Believe in Tears,† (â€Å"Moscow† for short) was directed by Vladimir Menshov and was produced in 1980. The movie begins in the 1950's and goes until the 1970's. Although this film accurately shows a change in Soviet ideals, it is important to note that â€Å"Moscow† does have some levels of propaganda. For example, Katerina's lover, Gosha, is seen as the ideal model citizen, especially when Katerina and Gosha talk about how Gosha is perfect and flawless. It need not be said that nobody is perfect, but the films portrays Gosha as the ideal citizen. This time period was significant in Soviet history because it showed a transition in Soviet values. This movie shows how traditional values in the Soviet Union became modernized as time progressed in the post Stalin era. During the 1970's, the Soviet Union became neo-traditionalist, in the sense that they held on to their old values while attaining new ones. For example, we get a clear understanding of how Russia was adjusting to time with the development of Tonya, Ludmilla, and Katerina's live styles. Of all the three main women in the play, Tonya is the best example of a traditional Soviet lifestyle. She marries at a young age and settles for a domestic life with a man that makes a respectable living. Katerina, on the other hand, marries at a much older age but to a man named Gosha who exhibits traditional Soviet values as well. For example, after Gosha gets in a fight, Katerina forbids him from ever fighting again, and Gosha agrees, but tells Katerina if she ever yells at him again he will leave her. Later in the same conversation, Gosha tells Katerina that it goes against his values that a woman makes more money than a man. This shows that there are still traces of traditional Soviet values in 1970 Russia. Tonya and Gosha both show that there are links to traditional soviet values even though its thirty years after Stalin's reign. In contrast to the way Tonya and Gosha live, the lives of Ludmilla and Katerina give us examples of how Soviet values changed and modernized over time. For example, in the beginning of the film, signs of change in Soviet values are apparent. Early in the film, Katerina and Ludmilla go to the French Film Festival to admire the rich and famous. Ludmilla admits to Katerina how she thinks one of the female actresses is beautiful, and how she would love to live the life of her. This shows how people, especially women, were being exposed to materialism in Russia, and it was socially acceptable to aspire to be rich and famous. Katerina also shows a change in Soviet values for women. She is the head of a corporation after a series of floor promotions, and she lives in a nice apartment providing for her family. This is a perfect example of Soviet values changing from the idea that women in the Soviet Union didn't have rights or power, to the modernized Soviet values where women were powerful. In conclusion, the movies â€Å"Chapaev,† â€Å"Circus,† and â€Å"Moscow Doesn't Believe in Tears† are all largely applauded films that show the history and progression of changing Soviet values. â€Å"Chapaev† and â€Å"Circus† were both produced under Stalin’s reign, and they both contain some amount of Soviet propaganda as well as accurate references to Soviet values. They portray the traditional Soviet ideals of equality and unity of the Bolshevik party and how they were foremost in Soviet society. On a different note, â€Å"Moscow† takes place in a much later time, and proves that some Stalin era Soviet ideals were kept, but the attempt for modernization brought a necessary change in the ways people lived. As a result of the two sets of values portrayed through Gosha and Tonya, and Ludmilla and Katerina respectively, we see that Soviet ideals eventually became neo-traditionalistic. The shift in Soviet ideals occurred because Stalin's long and influential reign came to an end. After such a long time of repression, it can be argued that this change was inevitable.

Dividend Policy and Share Prices

Introduction In this paper the impact of dividend policy of the companies on the firm’s share prices is analysed and different views in the context of the semi-strong form of the efficient market hypothesis are contrasted. The overview of the traditional and most recent empirical investigations of the stock market reaction to the dividend announcements is provided and different findings are discussed and compared. Three companies have been selected from the FTSE All share price index. These companies are Tesco, Burberry and Vodafone. These firms belong to different sectors of the economy.Tesco is the largest retailer in the UK, Burberry is a fashion firm and Vodafone is the telecommunication services company. The dividends and accounts have been retrieved from annual reports of the companies (Tesco, 2011; Burberry, 2011; Vodafone, 2011). The share prices were sourced from Yahoo Finance (2012). The copies of the company accounts are provided in the appendices. Dividend Policies of Companies These three companies were chosen for the following reasons. Firstly, it was intended to choose large companies that have an established dividend policy and revenue of more than ? billion a year. Secondly, the companies from different industries had to be analysed. Thirdly, both services sector and goods sector were intended to be analysed. Finally, it was interesting to compare both pro-cyclical firms (e. g. Burberry) and counter-cyclical firms (e. g. Vodafone). The former are very sensitive to the effects of the economic recession whereas the latter are less sensitive because consumers would still have to use mobile phones and services regardless of their financial position.The dividend payout ratio has been calculated for these companies for the period from 2007 to 2011. The following formula was used: Dividend payout ratio = dividends per share / earnings per share The results are summarised in the following figure. Figure 1 Dividend Payout Ratios Source: Annual Re ports of Tesco (2011), Burberry (2011) and Vodafone (2011) The payout ratios indicate different dividend policies adopted by the three companies. Tesco’s policy is aimed at maintaining a constant dividend payout ratio, which is very common for mature industries such as retailing.In these industries the majority of the large companies are â€Å"cash cows† for the investors and therefore the dividend policy tends to show constant payout ratios, which inspires trust in the company and expectation of future stability. In contrast, the dividend policies of Vodafone and Burberry are not aimed at a constant payout ratio. In fact, as the following figure demonstrates, the policies of Vodafone and Burberry are aimed at dividend growth. Figure 2 Final DividendsSource: Annual Reports of Tesco (2011), Burberry (2011) and Vodafone (2011) However, whereas Vodafone demonstrates a â€Å"steady dividend growth strategy†, Burberry demonstrates the a strategy that does not show a specific pattern but can be interpreted as a signal to the market because in 2009 the company announced the dividends that were equal to the dividends announced in the previous year in spite of the accounting losses suffered by the firm which were reflected in negative earnings per share (Appendix C).This move can be interpreted as a sign that the management attempted to signal the market that the losses are temporary and the company was expected to recover quickly. It is interesting to note that the latter policy is inconsistent with the position that dividends should be paid out of earnings rather than accumulated capital or reserves. Furthermore, the companies could undertake an alternative dividend policy which would imply linking the dividend payout to the investment opportunities that could be managed by firms (Brealey and Myers, 2003).If the company has many projects that offer positive net present value, then it would be recommended that dividends could be retained and reinv ested in the firm. Only residual earnings, which are left after investments in all positive NPV projects could be distributed as dividends (Bodie et al, 2009). Dividend Announcements and Share Prices Dividend announcements and their impact on share prices can be explained by the semi strong form of the efficient market hypothesis (EMH).Efficient market hypothesis implies that the only thing that may impact the stock prices is new information, since all other possibly influencing parameters are already included in the firm’s stock price (Palan, 2004). The efficient market hypothesis may be divided into three forms: the weak form, the semi-strong form, and the strong form. The weak form implies that share prices bear or reflect the past prices and trade volume information, the semi-strong form adds publicly available information to the weak form, and the strong form adds even insider information to the efficiency approach (Harder, 2008).Empirical evidences show that successive changes in stock prices are independent and this independence is in line with the efficient market hypothesis, as markets promptly react to the new information (Fama et al. , 1969). In this context it may be assumed that dividend announcements convey particular positive information about the company and provide signals about future performance of the firm. The decision about paying dividends is made by the firm’s managers and often supported by shareholders’ voting.Since dividend announcements bear useful information, from the efficient market hypothesis view point this information is reflected in the share price changes immediately after the public announcement (Bodie et al, 2009). The three companies that were chosen have been used to test the semi strong form of the EMH and whether the dividends announcements made by Tesco, Vodafone and Burberry had a significant impact on shareholder returns and share prices. So, the null hypotheses of the analysis are the followin g:H0: Dividends have a positive and significant effect on the share prices H0: Dividends have a positive and significant effect on the weekly stock returns. The alternative hypotheses are the following: Halt: Dividends do not have a significant effect on the share prices Halt: Dividends do not have a significant effect on the weekly stock returns. According to EMH in its semi strong form, the information on dividends should be quickly absorbed into the stock prices during the first week and hence the acceptance of the null hypotheses will be consistent with the semi strong efficiency.However, if abnormal returns persist in the longer run, e. g. three months, the EMH in the semi strong form can be rejected. Empirical evidences also provide support for the semi-strong efficient market hypothesis, implying that stock market efficiently and quickly adjusts to new information about dividends (Aharony and Swary, 1980). However, the research of Amihud and Li (2006) finds that the reaction of stock market to dividend announcement is not constant. It is concluded that cumulative abnormal returns promoted by dividend announcements decline to zero in due course.The findings suggest that dividend announcement are less informative over time, and this may be related to the reluctance of managers to pay extra expenses related to dividends (Amihud and Li, 2006). Moreover, the recent decrease in propensity of companies to pay dividends is sometimes related to the lower informational contend of dividend announcements. Since institutional investors are normally better informed and tend to play key roles in public firms, the costly dividends have become a less popular way to provide information (Baker, 2009).The study of Asquth and Mullins (1983) also suggests that stock prices and shareholders’ wealth are impacted by initiation and increase of dividends. Moreover, the effect of dividend increase is stronger than the influence of dividend initiation. The results are in lin e with assumption that dividend announcements bear valuable information for investors. Dividend policy may be used as a simple way to signal managers’ view of the company’s recent and future performance (Asquth and Mullins, 1983). However, it must be stated that dividend policies are not directly influencing share prices and lead to their changes.Instead, dividend policies are changed by managers when some fundamental developments in company’s performance are expected, and these developments cause the change of the share prices. Thus, dividend announcement is only the way for investors to obtain information about these fundamental developments. Similarly, there are no evidences that a company value may be increased through increase of dividends, since dividends only convey signals about fundamental changes in the company and are viewed as only by-products of the changes (Moles et al. 2011). Nevertheless, the study of Shiller (1981) challenges the efficient marke t hypothesis suggesting that the volatility of stock prices are too high to be explained by the future dividends. A more recent investigation of Mehnidiratta and Gupta (2010) supports the semi-strong form of efficient market hypothesis concluding that stock prices promptly and accurately react to the publicly available information, particularly to dividend announcements. The two-stage study tests the share prices response to dividend announcement.The first stage included the evaluation of beta based on post facto returns on stock and market index and predicted returns on every of the stocks. The second stage these values were used to calculate abnormal returns around the day of announcement. The results provide information that though investors do not obtain significant value prior to the dividend announcement day or on the event day, they do gain value after the announcement. Investors move their security positions on the announcement day which implies that after the event day ther e is informational value in dividend announcement.The evidences prove that the increases in dividends imply more positive abnormal stock returns, and this supports the efficient market hypothesis (Mehnidiratta and Gupta, 2010). But there are also empirical evidences of little stock market reaction to dividend announcements at some periods (Hasan et al. , 2012). The event study methodology was used to evaluate the effect of cash dividend announcements on the share prices. The data about abnormal returns around the event day was analysed and the events before, on, or after the announcement day were pooled.The tested assumption states that payment of cash dividends is the most significant factor that impacts all prices around the event days (Hasan et al. , 2012). In the following figures the results of the regression analysis and statistical tests applied to the regressions are presented. Table 1 Effects of Dividends on Investor Weekly Return Coefficientsa Model Unstandardized Coeffici ents Standardized Coefficients t Sig. B Std. Error Beta 1 (Constant) .012 .009 1. 375 .175 Dividend -. 002 .002 -. 143 -1. 030 .308 Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate imension0 1 .143a .020 .001 .03489 a. Predictors: (Constant), Dividend According to the first regression, dividends do not have a significant impact on the weekly stock returns and hence the null hypothesis related to stock returns is rejected. However, the output from the regression of share prices on dividends demonstrates that the former have a statistically significant positive influence on the share price performance. This was evidenced with the t-test. Table 2 Effects of Dividends on Share Prices Coefficientsa Model Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients Sig. B Std. Error Beta 1 (Constant) 151. 362 47. 949 3. 157 .003 Dividend 45. 955 9. 186 .574 5. 003 .000 Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate dimension0 1 .574a .329 .316 191. 66266 a. Predictors : (Constant), Dividend Thus, the null hypothesis related to the effects of dividends on the share prices is accepted. R-squared test has revealed that the second regression had a better fit. Conclusion As the semi-strong efficient market hypothesis suggests, new information including dividend announcement is quickly reflected in the company’s stock prices.Some empirical evidences support the hypothesis (Fama et al. , 1969; Aharony and Swary, 1980). Other findings suggest that the impact of the announcements may decline in the course of time (Amihud and Li, 2006). The recent empirical studies that were reviewed support the semi-strong efficient market hypothesis and find that dividend announcements produce abnormal returns and are positively related to the share prices (Mehnidiratta and Gupta, 2010). But another event study displays different reaction of stock prices to dividend announcement in different years (Hasan et al. , 2012).The analysis in the paper was conducted in th e context of three UK based companies from different sectors. The dividend policies of these companies have been analysed. Furthermore, the relationships between the share prices and the dividends were tested. It was found that the dividends produced a positive and statistically significant effect on the share prices but no significant effect on weekly returns. References Aharyny, J. and Swary, I. (1980) â€Å"Quarterly Dividend and Earnings Announcements and Stockholders’ Returns: An Empirical Analysis†, The Journal of Finance, 31 (1), pp. 1-12. Amihud, Y. nd Li, K. (2006) â€Å"The Declining Information Content of Dividend Announcements and the Effects of Institutional Holdings†, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 41, pp. 637-660. Asquith, P. and Mullins, D. W. Jr. (1983) â€Å"The Impact of Initiating Dividend Payments on Shareholders’ Wealth†, The Journal of Business, 56 (1), pp. 77-96. Baker, H. K. (2009) Dividends and dividend po licy. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Bodie, Z. , Kane, A. and Marcus, A. (2009) Investments, Hoboken: McGraw Hill Professional. Brealey, R. and Myers, S. (2003) Principles of Corporate Finance, New York: McGraw Hill.Burberry (2011) Annual Reports and Accounts, [online] Available at: www. burberryplc. com/bbry/results-centre/respre/rep2011/ [Accessed 6 February 2012]. Fama, E. F. , Fisher, L. , Jensen, M. C. and Roll, R. (1969) â€Å"The Adjustment of Stock Prices to New Information†, International Economic Review, 10 (1), pp. 1-21. Field A. (2005) Discovering Statistics Using SPSS, London: Sage Publications. Gujarati, D. (1995) Basic Econometrics. 3rd ed. , New York: McGraw-Hill. Harder, S. (2008) â€Å"The Efficient Market Hypothesis and Its Application to Stock Markets†, Scholarly Research Paper, Germany: GRIN Verlag.Hasan, S. B. , Akhter, S. and Huda, H. A. E. (2012) â€Å"Cash Dividend Announcement Effect: Evidence from Dhaka Stock Exchange†, Research J ournal of Finance and Accounting, 3 (2), pp. 12-24. Maddala, G. S. (2001) Introduction to Econometrics. 3rd ed. , Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons. Mehnidiratta, N. and Gupta, S. (2010) â€Å"Impact of Dividend Announcement on Stock Prices†, International Journal of Information Technology and Knowledge Management, 2 (2), pp. 405-410. Moles, P. , Parrino, R. and Kidwell, D. (2011) Fundamentals of Corporate Finance – European Edition. UK: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Palan, S. 2004) â€Å"The Efficient Market Hypothesis and Its Validity in Today's Markets†, M. A. Thesis. Germany: GRIN Verlag. Shiller, R. J. (1981) â€Å"Do Stock Prices Move Too Much to be Justified by Subsequent Changes in Dividends? †, NBER Working Paper No. 456. Tesco (2011) Annual Report and Accounts [online] Available at: ar2011. tescoplc. com/ [Accessed 6 February 2012]. Vodafone (2011) Annual Report and Accounts [online] Available at: http://www. vodafone. com/content/index/investors/reports/ann ual_report. html [Accessed 6 February 2012]. Yahoo Finance (2012) Weekly Share Prices [online] Available at: finance. yahoo. co. uk [Accessed 6 February 2012].

Miracles Do Exist essays

Miracles Do Exist essays Do you ever feel lonely? Have you ever lost all hope and then out of nowhere all your troubles are gone? Boyz II Mens song, The Color of Love, speaks of these painful feelings and how to overcome them. I decided to write about this song because loneliness is a universal feeling that we can all relate to. When you feel alone you can experience confusion and mixed emotions. These mixed emotions can lead you to do things you might not want to do or you do not realize at the moment what it is that you are doing. Loneliness is something that everyone has gone through and there is no denying it. When you feel lonely all you want is some sort of comfort and advice. Someone to help you through the good times and the bad times. If you are lucky that special person will be by your side to help you and show you the way to happiness. After overcoming hard times everything seems to fall back into place and you do not feel out of place anymore. And I was at the end of my rope, I needed someone to cut me loose. To me this quote means going through hard times and yearning for someones attention. This verse explains how the artist was lonely and needed someone to help him through his hard times. He needed someone to give him advice and ease his pain. Being at the end of your rope means to have nowhere else to go and either your life ends there or you find a way to go on with life. It is like that is all you can take and you need to let all of that pain out by talking about it to someone so that you do not have to carry your burden anymore. When the artist is singing this verse the music is really soft and this song might put you into a soothing mood. It is a slow song that can relax you. The second verse talks about how to overcome your pain. An angel out of the blue gave me the sense that I might make it through, describes how a special person out of nowhere put the artist back on ...

Why the South Lost the Civil War

Why the South Lost the Civil War Although the reasons for the defeat of the Confederacy in the American Civil War are debated just as energetically as the causes of the war, the answer to the question, â€Å"Why did the South lose the war?† was actually answered a long time ago. Three Reasons of the Union Victory Some years after the war ended, Confederate General George Pickett – who was actually a much better officer than his being the namesake of the famously doomed Pickett’s Charge at the Battle of Gettysburg might suggest – was asked why he thought the South lost, to which he replied, â€Å"I think the Yanks might have had something to do with it.† The Confederacy did not lose the Civil War, the Union beat them, and it was not until the very last few months of the war that it was at all clear that they would. CAUSES OF THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR The reasons for the Union victory are usually described as advantages in three areas: resources, strategy, and performance on the battlefield. While it is true that the North ultimately bested the South in all three, these advantages were for much of the war either not as great as they appear now, or were not well-applied; and the forces of the Confederacy had some considerable advantages of their own. Reason 1: Resources Confederate General Robert E. Lee certainly thought the disparity of resources between the North and South was to blame for the Confederate defeat; after surrendering the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox on April 10, 1865, he explained in his farewell address to his soldiers, â€Å"After four years’ arduous service, marked by unsurpassed courage and fortitude, declared Lee, the Army of Northern Virginia has been compelled to yield to overwhelming numbers and resources.† That was a bit of an understatement; the Union had two-and-a-half times the population of the South, had a vastly superior road and rail network, and when the war began, was producing over 90 percent of the country’s iron and very nearly all of its weapons, industrial advantages that only increased significantly as the war progressed. The Confederacy relied almost entirely on trade with Europe and the Northern states for industrial goods; for example, there was only one factory in the south – the Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond, Virginia – that was capable of producing large weapons, iron plating for ships, and heavy locomotive components. Nonetheless, the South managed to keep itself supplied for much longer than the differences in capabilities suggest it should have. While the Union blockade of the Confederacy – helped immensely by the capture of important ports such as New Orleans, Mobile, and Wilmington – did almost completely stop the flow of material from other countries after 1862, illicit trade with the North through the border states of Kentucky, Missouri, and Maryland was harder to stop, and kept a trickle of much-needed supplies flowing right up to the very end of the war. Reason 2: Strategy One aspect of the Confederate defeat that is debatable is the degree to which the strategy by which they pursued the war was imposed on them by political realities versus how much of it was the result of poor decision-making. All the South had to do was defend itself; the onus was on the North to ‘take back’ the rebellious part of the country. The Confederacy, however, comprised a huge territory, nearly 750,000 square miles. Some Southern military leaders, most notably General Joseph E. Johnston, advocated what in hindsight probably would have been a sound defensive strategy: giving up territory to defend key places like the major cities and doing most of the fighting with the North using guerrilla forces. The prevailing view, however, was that recognition of the Confederate States of America by other countries like England and France (and the desperately needed military assistance that would have come with it) was only possible if the South could demonstrate that it was a legitimate nation that could defend itself. That meant facing the Union forces in conventional fashion, defending the entire Confederate territory, and taking the fight to the Union where possible; this was the strategy preferred by Confederate leader Jefferson Davis (who unlike his Union counterpart Abraham Lincoln had extensive military experience) and General Lee. The unavoidable problem with the Southern strategic situation is that the initiative lay entirely with the North; Union forces could strike wherever it seemed most advantageous to do so, and the Confederate forces would largely be limited to reacting to it. To be fair, they did so magnificently more often than not. Lee’s repeated offensive-defensive campaigns in response to Union invasions of Virginia stymied the North – and almost ended the war in mid-1864 – until the final few months of the conflict, and even in the face of the brilliant war of maneuver conducted by Union generals Grant, Sherman, and George Thomas in the West, Confederate leaders like Johnston, Braxton Bragg (a general to whom history has, quite unfairly, not been kind), and Nathan Bedford Forrest presented a formidable challenge and delayed the eventual Southern defeat. Reason 3: Performance on the Battlefield One of the obvious reasons the Civil War was the most savage conflict ever fought by American soldiers is that from the highest generals to the lowest privates in the ranks, the two forces were so evenly matched in terms of talent and motivation, even if the advantage of numbers went to the Union. Most of the leaders on both sides had trained and served together in the pre-war Army; many were brothers-in-arms as young officers in the Mexican War 20 years earlier. The conventional view that â€Å"Southerners made better soldiers† because most of them were farmers, handy with weapons and horses and used to rough living, overlooks the fact that an overwhelming number of Union troops were from the farming states in the upper Midwest. For example, the famed â€Å"Iron Brigade† of the Army of the Potomac, one of the most-feared units in either army, and one of the few who could claim to have defeated the equally-renowned Stonewall Jackson was made up entirely of men from Wisc onsin, Michigan, and Indiana. The advantage to the Union on the battlefield largely came about because of its superiority in firepower and numbers, but also because Southern leaders made a few more bad decisions at wrong times than their Union foes. Lee’s two invasions of the North – which ended in the horrific battles of Antietam and Gettysburg – were unnecessary and costly strategic mistakes, compounded by a number of uncharacteristic errors during both campaigns. Likewise in the West, General Bragg’s outstanding victory at Chickamauga was wasted when he failed to follow up on it, allowing Grant to come to the rescue and eventually defeat Bragg at Chattanooga. Could the Confederacy have won the Civil War? The weight of evidence tips the balance towards the answer, â€Å"Probably not.† Yet the question is still interesting and worth discussing, even after 150 years. WHEN IS MILITARY FORCE JUSTIFIED? An excellent, detailed history of the Civil War can be found in James M. McPherson’s 1988 book, Battle Cry of Freedom, which explains the Civil War in-depth from the end of the Mexican War in 1847 to the tragic assassination of Abraham Lincoln in 1865.

10 Tips for the SAT Essay

10 Tips for the SAT Essay 1. Follow the rules.Don’t score a zero for failing to follow instructions. Use the essay paper that is provided. Do not write in your booklet. Do not change the question. Do not use a pen. 2. Divide your time. You will have twenty-five minutes to write your essay. As soon as you begin, make a note of the time and give yourself benchmarks and limits. For example, give yourself five minutes to brainstorm for main points (which will become topic sentences), one minute to come up with a great introduction, two minutes to organize your examples into paragraphs, etc. 3. Take a stance. You will be writing about an issue. Readers judge essays on the depth and complexity of the argument you make (and you will be taking a side), so be sure to show that you understand both sides of the issue you’re writing about. However, you can’t be wishy washy! You will pick one side and explain why it is right. Demonstrate that you understand both sides, but pick one and explain why it is correct. 4. Don’t get hung up if you don’t actually have strong feelings one way or the other on a subject. You don’t have to feel guilty about saying things you don’t really believe. Your task is to show that you can craft a complex argument essay. That means you will have to make specific statements about your position and expound upon your individual points. Just take a side and argue it! 5. Don’t try to change the subject. It may be tempting to change the question to something that is more to your liking. Don’t do that! Readers are instructed to assign a zero score to an essay that doesn’t answer the question provided. If you try to change your question, even slightly, you are taking a risk that the reader will not like your answer. 6. Work with an outline! Use the first few minutes to brainstorm as many thoughts as possible; organize those thoughts into a logical pattern or outline; then write as quickly and neatly as you can. 7. Talk to your reader. Remember that the person scoring your essay is a person and not a machine. As a matter of fact, the reader is a trained educator- and most likely a high school teacher. As you write your essay, imagine that you are talking to your favorite high school teacher. We all have one special teacher who always talks with us and treats us like adults and actually listens to what we have to say. Imagine that you are talking to this teacher as you write your essay. 8. Start with a fabulous or surprising introductory sentence to make a great first impression. Examples:Issue: Should cell phones be banned from school property?First sentence: Ring, ring!Note: You would follow up on this with well-crafted, fact-filled statements. Don’t try too much cute stuff!Issue: Should the school day be extended?First sentence: No matter where you live, the longest period of any school day is the last one. 9. Vary your sentences to show that you have a command of sentence structure. Use complex sentences sometimes, mid-sized sentences sometimes, and two-word sentences a few times to make your writing more interesting. Alsodon’t keep repeating the same point by rewording it several ways. Readers will see right through that. 10. Write neatly. Neatness counts to some degree, in that the reader must be able to read what you’ve written. If your writing is notoriously difficult to read, you should print your essay. Don’t get too hung up on neatness, though. You can still cross out mistakes that you catch as you proofread your work. The essay represents a first draft. Readers will like to see that you did, in fact, proof your work and that you recognized your mistakes. Further reading: How to Write a Descriptive Essay

How has gender inequality been explained (Answer with reference to a Essay

How has gender inequality been explained (Answer with reference to a range of theories and approaches) Critically assess the at - Essay Example It is from the conflict school that feminism emerged. Feminist movements seek to address the â€Å"oppression† of women. Actually, there are also articulations that describe an interaction among class, race, and gender but, unfortunately, this is not covered by this write-up. Moreover, there are ecofeminists that are radical as well as environmental but this is also not covered by this report. II. Perspective on Gender Inequality: Theories and Approaches Macionis and Plummer (2008, pp. 615-616) pointed out that functionalist perspectives on sociology describe gender inequality as fulfilling a function of set of functions in society. They cited, for instance, that a leading functionalist sociologist, Talcott Parsons, pointed out that â€Å"the family operates most efficiently with a clear-cut division of labour in which the females act in expressive roles, providing care and security to children and offering them emotional support† (Macionis and Plummer 2008, p. 615). Fo r Parsons, male on the other hand perform instrumental roles or those related to breadwinning in the family (Macionis and Plummer 2008, p. 615). John Bowlby, another functionalist sociologist emphasized the role of the mother is in the primary socialization of the children (Macionis and Plummer 2008, p. 615). Macionis and Plummer (2008, p. ... According to Macionis and Plummer (2008, p. 617), radical feminists vary in perspectives but â€Å"most agree that it involves the appropriation of women’s bodies and sexuality in some form†. For instance, the usual conceptions of beauty and sexuality are supposedly impositions on women by men at the latter create or construct a particular notion of what is feminine and impose it on society. Beasley (1999, p. 51-64) pointed out that there are several types of feminism: liberal, radical, Marxist/socialist, and socialist feminism. According to Beasley, liberal feminism is the more popular form of feminism (p. 51). Beasley (1999, p. 51) described that this form of feminism is the â€Å"moderate† or the â€Å"mainstream† form of feminism. In the liberal feminism, the explanation for gender inequality is described in terms of unequal rights or â€Å"artificial barriers† to women’s participation in the political or decision-making process. In the l iberal feminist thought, there is an emphasis on mainstreaming or putting the feminist agenda for equal rights on the legal, political and institutional fronts (Beasley 1999, p. 51). According to Beasley (1999, p. 51), the position of liberal feminists is that women should â€Å"compete in the public marketplace† (Beasley 1999, p. 51). For liberal feminists, equality of women with men in the public arena is the core of the liberal feminist agenda (Beasley 1999, p. 52). The liberal feminists hold that men and women are the same and, thus, have equal rights (Beasley 1999, p. 52). Liberal feminists emphasized on reform rather than change via a revolution (Beasley 1999, p. 52). In Beasley’s words (1999, p. 52), liberal feminists â€Å"want what

Ethics, Professionalism and Contemporary Issues Essay

Ethics, Professionalism and Contemporary Issues - Essay Example Throughout the design steps, there were minor considerations of the possible risks this game poses to the players, as far as human trafficking is concerned. However, a concerned player of my online game, who is concerned with the human trafficking issue, raised his genuine concerns about my game predisposing the young players to human trafficking, after being lured into the real world meetings. The concerns of this player should not be neglected, but considered seriously. This is because, with the sophistication of technology, human trafficking has taken advantage and flourished. As it is globally known, human trafficking is the illegal trade of people with the objective of selling them to forced labor, sexual slavery or tissue or organ extraction. Human trafficking is done through coercion, use of force, abduction, purchases or deception (Latonero 8). It has grown to be a lucrative business for some people despite being illegal and inhumane. This implies that users of the internet a nd other technologies ought to be cautious. How Technology has aided it Human trafficking is rampant especially through technology. Many people fall prey of this inhumane practice through coercion and deception, to submit their details and address lines over the internet. Thereafter, the traffickers lay a trap for the innocent internet users, abduct them, and trade them off (Latonero 10). The trends in education have necessitated the adoption of technology in research and communication. Financial constraints amongst many people have also motivated them to embrace technology for solutions. Therefore, as researchers and students seek for research and academic solutions, they also seek for business opportunities. With this trend in the use of technology, human traffickers have managed to lay traps through online adverts and fake employment opportunities, which have trapped many people, including children and adolescents. Most of the victims are traded for sexual slavery, where they are sold off as prostitutes. This explains why most victims have been women, both adults and adolescents. In this modern hi-tech society, technology has been the leading influencer and avenue for human trafficking (Latonero 11). How Technology hindered it However, contrary to the successful efforts by human traffickers, to build their business empires in this illegal trade, technology has also been instrumental in fighting this business. Since human trafficking became a global problem, security agencies have also come up strongly, to track and apprehend human traffickers. Most traffickers do their business online. Therefore, the security agencies have also setup traps online, to catch up with them. This has been aided by the internet protocol (IP) addresses, which allows the location of anyone using the internet globally. Technology has also allowed the tracing of the users of communication gadgets like mobile phones globally. Security agents can also intercept phone conversations of s uspected traffickers. Of course, the traffickers have learned ways of escaping apprehension by using aliases and hiding the protocols. This has been the greatest setback in the efforts, to fight human trafficking through technology. However, still technology has made it easy for the security agents, to fight this illegal business. With improved technology, videos and photos can be taken via the satellite, which aid tracking of these criminals. Possible set of actions and analysis Following the threat from

How Abortion Could Railroad the Health Care Reform Bill Essay

How Abortion Could Railroad the Health Care Reform Bill - Essay Example Some people could wholeheartedly argue that, "Abortion is morally wrong because it is morally wrong to murder a person made in the image and likeness of God" ("Abortion: The Silent Holocaust," 2010, p. 1). Many people consider abortion to be a moral travesty. Opinion polls support this. "On the eve of the 37th anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision in Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion throughout the United States, a new survey shows a strong majority of Americans believe abortion to be 'morally wrong'" ("Majority of Americans, and Nearly 6 in 10 Young Adults, View Abortion as Morally Wrong," 2010, p. 1). Federally-funded abortions would also be socially reprehensible. Abortion could be begun to be seen as a method of birth control rather than as an option of last resort for women who are unwed mothers or wanting to get rid of a pregnancy. Especially, there is an idea that "sex-selective abortion is a morally reprehensible practice" (Chamie, 2008, p. 1). This is basically because children would be able to be eliminated based on the fact that, perhaps their parent(s) would find their gender to be undesirable and thus abort the child. Federally-funded sex-selective abortions would connote that the government supports this kind of eugenics.

Macroeconomics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Macroeconomics - Essay Example â€Å"Although technology, tastes, and public policy each have important independent influences on the pattern and pace of economic integration in its various dimensions, they clearly interact in important ways. Improvements in the technology of transportation and communication do not occur spontaneously in an economic vacuum. The desire of people to take advantage of what they see as the benefits of closer economic integration—that is, the taste for the benefits of integration—is a key reason why it is profitable to make the innovations and investments that bring improvements in the technology of transportation and communication† (Mussa, n.p.).   Balance of payments is a balance through international operations, expressed in value of all complex economic relations of a country in the form of the ratio of receipts and payments. Balance of Payments is a statistical report that provides data on the foreign trade of a country with other countries over time. Simply speaking, this document reflects economic transaction of a country with the rest of the world. From the accounting point of view, the balance of payments is always in balance. However, deficit or surplus may occur in its separate sections, when receipts exceed payments, or when payments exceed revenues. The principle of double-entry accounting is used in a balance of payments, every transaction has two sides - debit and credit. Under this accounting system total of the debit should always be equal to the total amount of the loan. Generally, any balance of payments consists of two accounts – current account and capital account. A current account reflects operations with real assets, while capital account – with financial assets. According to the majority of experts, current account plays more significant role in the overall balance. For instance, negative current account of the USA has played a tremendous role in negative dynamics of the country’s balance of pay ments. It can be seen on the following graph. The other important theoretical item in international economics is exchange rate. Simply speaking, exchange rate is a price of a motional currency in some particular amount of a foreign currency. There are nominal and real exchange rates. Nominal exchange rate - is the relative price of currencies of two countries, or the currency of one country, expressed in the currency of another country. In turn, the real exchange rate describes the ratio in which products of one country can be sold in exchange for goods of another country. The following law is related to the problem of exchange rates. â€Å"The law of one price is the theory that the price of a given security, commodity or asset will have the same price when exchange rates are taken into consideration. The law of one price is another way of stating the concept of purchasing power parity† (Financial Theory, n.p.). Chapter 9 A curve of production opportunities is dependence tha t graphically illustrates the possibility of simultaneous production of two products based on limited resources spent on producing these products. A simple production possibilities curve is presented on the following picture. The curve is constructed in a coordinate system, each of which reflects the output of one of the products. It restricts the production capabilities so that any point on the curve shows the maximum possible resource constraints on the combination of production of two products. Aggregate supply is the total amount

Emergency Mnagement 670 Week 4 Conf Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Emergency Mnagement 670 Week 4 Conf - Assignment Example ency action plan includes conducting a workplace evaluation which defines how rescuers will react to different types of crisis situations, considering specific worksite plans, operational features and emergency systems (Department of Homeland Security, 2010). Based on this context, various elements of emergency planning can be identified which are described as follows: Policy: An effective emergency management plan includes effective evacuation policies in the time of crisis situations. The policy must therefore address all possible emergency situations, magnitudes of emergencies, mandatory activities, written procedures to deal with the situations and resources available (Canton, 2006). Alertness: Alertness is the second vital element of effective emergency management planning. Alertness denotes the rapidity of changes in behavior to restrict the influence of disaster situations and is considered as a constant cycle of planning, supervising, categorizing, training, assessing and monitoring activities to certify effective direction and improvement of capabilities which further helps to inhibit the consequences of any kind of emergency situation (Department of Homeland Security, 2008). Reaction: Reaction is the other vital element of effective emergency planning. Reaction comprises deployment of essential emergency facilities and initial responders in the disaster zone. It also acts as the basis of emergency planning which empowers effective management of rescue and searching activities (McCreight, 2011). Recovery: Recovery is the other element of effective emergency planning. The objective of recovery in effective emergency planning is to restore the disaster affected zones to facilitate the prosperity of the community. Recovery activities are related with the emergency plans which need to be prepared after recognizing instantaneous necessities which are identified after the crisis. Recovery functions are basically related with activities which include

Children of Older Men at Greater Risk of Mental Illness Article

Children of Older Men at Greater Risk of Mental Illness - Article Example According to research studies, children with older fathers are at risk for a number of psychiatric conditions. These include autistic disorder, schizophrenia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder as well as bipolar disorder. Children suffering from such conditions also report to struggle at their schools, have poor learning abilities and impaired cognitive development. Scientists suggest that the increased risk can be explained by the increased number of genetic mutations that build up in the sperms as the men get older. Children of older fathers also had increased risk of having suicidal behavior and drug abuse. These findings were published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry. However, the studies are restricted to comparisons between the siblings and it is difficult to separate the overlapping dimensions of paternal age, children’s age and the order of birth. In many countries, the age of first-time fathers is increasing which is an alarming sign keeping view the current res earchers. The average of men who are first-time fathers in England is 30.8 to 32.6 years which clearly increases the risk of educational, psychiatric and behavioral problems in the children. The article brings to attention a significant aspect of biological science associated with reproduction and conceiving. Being aware of the medical problems our children are at risk is an important aspect for the parents as they are constantly worried about the well-being of their children. The association of increasing age of fathers and the increased risk of psychiatric conditions and behavioral disturbances in children is a resourceful research.  

Emergency Mnagement 670 Week 4 Conf Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Emergency Mnagement 670 Week 4 Conf - Assignment Example ency action plan includes conducting a workplace evaluation which defines how rescuers will react to different types of crisis situations, considering specific worksite plans, operational features and emergency systems (Department of Homeland Security, 2010). Based on this context, various elements of emergency planning can be identified which are described as follows: Policy: An effective emergency management plan includes effective evacuation policies in the time of crisis situations. The policy must therefore address all possible emergency situations, magnitudes of emergencies, mandatory activities, written procedures to deal with the situations and resources available (Canton, 2006). Alertness: Alertness is the second vital element of effective emergency management planning. Alertness denotes the rapidity of changes in behavior to restrict the influence of disaster situations and is considered as a constant cycle of planning, supervising, categorizing, training, assessing and monitoring activities to certify effective direction and improvement of capabilities which further helps to inhibit the consequences of any kind of emergency situation (Department of Homeland Security, 2008). Reaction: Reaction is the other vital element of effective emergency planning. Reaction comprises deployment of essential emergency facilities and initial responders in the disaster zone. It also acts as the basis of emergency planning which empowers effective management of rescue and searching activities (McCreight, 2011). Recovery: Recovery is the other element of effective emergency planning. The objective of recovery in effective emergency planning is to restore the disaster affected zones to facilitate the prosperity of the community. Recovery activities are related with the emergency plans which need to be prepared after recognizing instantaneous necessities which are identified after the crisis. Recovery functions are basically related with activities which include

Mgmt 4420 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Mgmt 4420 - Essay Example Employees need continual training so that their output remains strong. The 10 Talent Management practices that I will employ in future work are: recruiting online, source work out, take advantage of social media, makes it easier for new employees to integrate into the workplace when they first arrive, establish clear goals across every department of the organization, correspond performance reviews with company objectives, provide on-the-job training, implement a system to track employees’ output, offer pay based on performance, and identify future leaders. Of the above Talent Management practices, I would focus on two main ones: create uniform goals across the organization and to offer pay that is linked with performance. I believe that these two practices are the most vital in any organization because they get overlooked much of the time. Any organization needs to be on the same page, so company goals must be communicated to every employee. Also, employees perform better when their pay is linked to their work. The extra motivation will increase output and result in profit for the

Origins of Psychology Essay Example for Free

Origins of Psychology Essay This theory was developed by Sigmund Freud in the early 1900’s and paved the way for modern psychology in the early 1900’s. This theory deals with the deep, inner and mysterious core of the human psyche, in search of understanding the psychology of the human being. It is also closely connected with evolutionary perspectives on personality. Behaviorist : The primary focus of the behavioral perspective is on behavior and the influence of the external environment in shaping of the individual’s behavior. Teaching, therefore, refers to the environmental conditions that are arranged and presented to students. Some of the key behaviorist theorists in the field of psychology are viz. , John Watson, B. F. Skinner, and E. L. Thorndike. Teachers who draw from behaviorist theory tend towards active learning (or learning by doing). The teacher determines all of the skills needed to achieve the desired behavior and students learn them in a step-by-step manner. Humanist : The focus of the humanistic perspective is on the self, which translates into YOU, and your perception of your experiences. This veiw argues that you are free to choose your own behavior, rather than reacting to environmental stimuli and reinforcers. Issues dealing with self-esteem, self-fulfillment, and needs are paramount. The major focus is to facilitate personal development. Two major theorists associated with this view are Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow. Cognitive : The school of psychology that examines internal mental processes, such as creativity, perception, thinking, problem solving, memory, and language. Cognitive psychologists are interested in how a person understands, diagnoses, and solves a problem, concerning themselves with the mental processes that mediate between stimulus and response (Garvey,1999) Neuro-scientific / Bio-psychological : The neuro-scientific framework seeks to relate behavior and mind to the brain. The important overall point of a neuro-scientific perspective is that analyses of normal or abnormal function need to be informed by an understanding of the brain structures and processes that implement the function. Psychiatrists need to monitor emerging work that highlights the need for both a neuro-scientific and medical perspective in the management of complex disorders. Evolutionary : Evolutionary psychology is the science that seeks to explain through universal mechanisms of behavior why humans act the way they do. Evolutionary psychology seeks to reconstruct problems that our ancestors faced in their primitive environments, and the problem-solving mechanisms they created to meet those particular challenges. From these reconstructed problem-solving adaptations, the science then attempts to establish the common roots of our ancestral behavior, and how those common behavioral roots are manifested today in the widely scattered cultures of the planet. The goal is to understand human behavior that is universally aimed at the passing of ones genes into the next generation. Socio-cultural : The social-cultural perspective concentrates on the culture of a group of individuals or society as a whole rather than the individual. To understand why people tend to show certain behavior traits, mental health clinicians look at what affects the community as a group of individuals might have on their own thought processes. Some of the questions pondered are if a person behaves a certain way to be accepted or commits an act because it is accepted amongst their society.

Somewhere to call home :: essays research papers fc

Somewhere to call home The Middle of Somewhere stresses the important facts of racism and equal rights among human beings. This interesting and compelling story is about an African family who fought the government for what they believed was right. In the times of segregation, the white people pushed around the blacks. It was the few blacks that chose to stand up for themselves and fight back for what they believed in. â€Å"The middle of somewhere†. If spoken aloud, it makes you think. This must be a place where you call home. Somewhere where you feel safe and where everything around you is comfortable. In the novel, Rebecca and her family always talk about Pofadderkloof. Pofadderkloof is the place where the whites want to move all the black people of the village in order to replace the area with a white suburb. They tell the black people that in Pofadderkloof the houses will be larger and will have a running tap. Also, they will have two bedrooms and a stove. Rebecca’s family was the only family to know that they were telling all lies just to get them to move. When Rebecca’s best friend, Noni and her family move to Pofadderkloof, she is hurt to the point of crying everyday. When a member of Noni’s family actually notices that everything that was told to them were all lies, she goes back to the village on foot for about two days to tell everyone. She refers to Pofadderkloof as â€Å"the middle of nowhere†, because of the one-bedroom houses and miles of dry plain with no markets or available jobs. Pretty soon, the whole village comes together and forms a c ommittee to help each other for what is right. They don’t want to go to the middle of nowhere. There want to stay home in the village, in the middle of somewhere. In the middle of somewhere is home; that’s where everything feels right. The village was the home to many, but it was a key part in Rebecca’s family’s life. To Rebecca, home was everything to her. She loved going home after school to play hopscotch, or jumping rope in front of her house with her friends near the beautiful jacaranda tree. When she heard that bulldozers were coming to tear her house down, she was terrified. She couldn’t sleep at night. It was all she could think about.

The Effects of Political and Demographic Variables on Christian Coalition Scores :: Christianity Christian Religion Essays Research

The Effects of Political and Demographic Variables on Christian Coalition Scores One of the most interesting phenomena in American politics is the recent rise of the Christian right. First termed the "Moral Majority" by Jerry Falwell in the late 1970s, the Christian Right has undergone a name and a leader change. The Christian Coalition is currently led by Pat Robertson who seeks to continue much of the early work pioneered by the Moral Majority. The Moral Majority sought to reintroduce Christian principles into the political sphere. The Christian Coalition focuses on continuing these efforts in an attempt to reverse "the moral decay that threatens our great nation" (Christian Coalition, 1996). The purpose of this research is to measure the political and demographic variables on House representatives' frequency of voting with the Christian Coalition agenda. This is measured by the Christian Coalition's Congressional Scorecard as the percentage a representative supports the position held by the Coalition. The independent variables used in this research include: party affiliation of the representative, how the district voted in the 1988 presidential election, the percent minority in the district of voting age, percentage of district who had attended some college, and the median household income of the district. These are examined to analyze their independent and collective effect on the representative's frequency of supporting the Christian Coalition (CC) agenda. The following hypotheses are the expected empirical patterns based upon logic and conventional wisdom. It is expected that party affiliation will be a major factor in the frequency of a representative voting with the CC agenda, regardless of the non-partisan claim made by the CC organization. Specifically, if a representative were a Republican, she or he would vote more consistently with the CC agenda than a Democrat. Additionally, it is hypothesized that the greater a district's vote for Republican George Bush in the 1988 presidential election, the higher their representative's support for the CC agenda. This assumption is based on the belief that a Republican vote for president would generally translate into the election of a Republican or at the least, a conservative Democrat representative. With regard to the percent minorities in a district, it is hypothesized that because high concentrations of minorities tend to live in urban areas, which tend to receive a large portion of social services and entitlements, the elected representative would not vote in favor of the CC agenda which often seeks to limit federal spending in these areas.

Analysis of “Dulce et Decorum Est” Essay

The poem we have been analysing in class, Dulce et Decorum Est, was written by a man named Wilfred Owen. Wilfred Owen was a soldier in the first world war and was born on the 18th of March 1893, and died on the 4th of November 1918, a week before the end of the first world war. In this poem, Owen’s objective is to show the horror and reality of war, and to set this horror against the way in which war was often glorified. His objection, the glorification of war is reflected in the title, â€Å"Dulce et Decorum Est† This is translated as â€Å"It is sweet and glorious†. Wilfred Owen uses this as a form of irony, to draw in the reader’s attention. It was especially meant for another war poet, Jesse Pope. She wrote about all the good and positive reasons for war, and tried to encourage men to go and fight for their country. You can easily feel how Wilfred Owen felt about the first world war. His use of adjectives like â€Å"bitter†, â€Å"helpless† and â€Å"smothering dreams† and the use of imagery, give us a clear picture of what it was like. These words are used to convey the ugliness, fear, poignancy and the pain of the war. Wilfred Owen uses clear tones throughout the poem help us to understand how he felt, and why he felt this way. In most of the poem, the tone is quite angry, due to the choice of words and how they are used. Owen gives us graphic descriptions, speaking in a very direct and straight forward way. His use of the word â€Å"you† in the third stanza, emphasizes my point clearly. He uses this to draw us in, and to make us feel how he felt. Not only does he make us feel how he felt, but the poet makes us use our senses. He makes us hear this one man dying, struggling for life. He makes us taste the bitterness of war, and the reality of it. All of these techniques are used in the poem, because he wants us to be shocked at the reality that he is presenting. In his illustration of war, Owen describes an incident of exhausted soldiers trudging through the mud, clearly unhappy and very tired. They are all leaving the front line in order to rest for a while in a safer place. Before this can happen the group get attacked by a sea of gas. Owen explains how one soldier is late in putting on his mask. Wilfred Owen describes the symptoms shown by this man as the poison slowly kills him. He then tells us how this man â€Å"plunges† at him, â€Å"guttering, choking, drowning†. Owen is helpless; he can’t do anything to save this man’s life. This man is forever haunting his dreams. Wilfred Owen then says â€Å"My friend you would not tell with such high zest† So, directly speaking to us, and Jesse Pope, or anyone who thinks that war is sweet or glorious, that it’s actually a lie! The poet then repeats the title as â€Å"the old lie†: â€Å"Dulce et Decorum Est Pro patria mori†. The full translation of this is â€Å"It is sweet and glorious to die for one’s country†. In Stanza 1, I have already briefly talked about the contrast between the title of the poem and the actual poem itself. It’s ironic. When we think of the title we imagine men with high spirits, willing to fight for their country, not â€Å"old beggars under sacks†, smelly and dirty, with the weight of the war weighing them down. In an instant we start to realise that war isn’t sweet or glorious. The word â€Å"beggars† implies that maybe the soldiers were of low ranks. That they have all, no matter what rank, have been reduced to a basic human level, dependant on others for their survival. â€Å"Sacks† are like rags; this gives the impression that the soldiers haven’t even been given adequate warm clothing. All this imagery creates sympathy for the soldiers and uses an image that you will be able to relate to. The rhythm in the first stanza is slow, with lots of commas. Owen uses punctuation like this because he wants you to see war for what it is. The use of commas, slow what you are reading down, and making it longer, as if you are walking/trudging alongside these tired soldiers. As the stanza goes on Owen shortens the sentences, they are getting slower and slower, emphasizing the soldiers exhaustion. Also the words â€Å"trudge† and â€Å"sludge† give a heavy sound and feel to the poem, as if you can hear the soldier’s heavy footsteps. The last line of the first stanza, Wilfred Owen uses alliteration, â€Å"gas shells dropping softly behind†, the repeated â€Å"S† sound, the sibilant â€Å"S†, makes a soft and smooth sound, like a lullaby, slowly easing you to sleep. This hints at what the soldiers feel like, tired and exhausted. Owen uses this for a contrast in the next line. â€Å"Gas! Gas!† this is more powerful and contrasting technique used here to create an atmosphere of panic and horror. The use of exclamation marks here also portray a scene of panicking and rushing. Owen uses direct speech here to draw us in and to speak to us, which is different from the first stanza where Owen uses the past tense. The imagery here is really engaging; it gives us the sense of rushing â€Å"to fit the clumsy helmets†. The word â€Å"clumsy† is a use of personification. It’s as if the helmets were fighting against the soldiers. Personification is useful, because you can relate to a human experience/image. Floundering is a strong verb; It gives you a clear image of this man struggling for life. Wilfred Owen also uses an extended metaphor of the sea, giving you a clear and a visual image of this struggle. â€Å"As under a green sea, I saw him drowning†. An extended metaphor keeps the image going. â€Å"plunges†, â€Å"guttering, choking, drowning† are all related to the sea, so therefore an extended metaphor. Also the words â€Å"guttering, choking, drowning† are a form of onomatopoeia, Owen makes us use our senses, to hear this man’s suffering. As if we were there. The poet uses the adjective â€Å"green†, this colour is often associated with evil, this is used to make the readers think that everything that is going on is evil and wrong. â€Å"In all my dreams, before my helpless sight† this is a quite shocking sentence to use. Wilfred Owen has obviously been scared by this man’s death, not one but â€Å"all† of his dreams re haunted by this man dying in front of his sight. This creates a feeling of horror and sympathy for Wilfred Owen and all the men who suffered like this. It is obvious in the third stanza, that war disgusts Wilfred Owen. The adjectives he uses emphasize his opinion; adjectives like â€Å"vile†, â€Å"obscene† and â€Å"bitter†. These are all very harsh words to use, but all portray his opinion clearly. The imagery Owen also uses in this stanza gives the impression that war is disgusting. The simile â€Å"like a devil’s sick of sin† shows Owen’s absolute disgust, you can feel that as well. This simile implies that war is the work of the devil, and even he is sick of it! Another poetic technique used in this stanza is the alliteration of the letter â€Å"W†-â€Å"Watch the white eyes writhing in his face† You can’t exactly say it quickly so you have to say it slowly so you can think about it, and realise the horror and reality of what is happening. The tone throughout this stanza is angry and harsh; this reflects Wilfred Owen’s thoughts and feelings about war. â€Å"Dulce et Decorum Est Pro patria mori† is a lie and Wilfred Owen is disgusted by it! A capital L is used to make the lie important, and a colon is used to introduced the unforgivable lie, it is also used to make us stop and think about it before we say it. Wilfred Owen uses a great depth of feeling in this poem, he uses emotive language and his personal impression and traumatic experience of war affects the convincing and clear message of the devastation of war! Comparison of two war poems (Dulce et decorum est and Suicide in the trenches) As a comparison to the poem by Wilfred Owen, we have been studying â€Å"Suicide in the trenches† by the war poet, Siegfried Sassoon. â€Å"Dulce et Decorum Est† and â€Å"Suicide in the trenches’† themes are similar. They both are about the reality and harshness of war. Unlike â€Å"Dulce et Decorum Est†, from the title â€Å"Suicide in the Trenches† you can figure out that the title is about death, to be specific a suicide. The word Siegfried Sassoon uses in the title, suicide, could mean a few different things. Maybe it could mean that going to war is suicidal, or basically that someone commits suicide in the trenches. It’s different to â€Å"Dulce et Decorum Est† because it isn’t ironic and Sassoon actually tells you what happens, he puts you straight, whilst Owen leaves you thinking about the theme and message of the poem. The poem, like â€Å"Dulce et Decorum Est†, focuses on the death of one soldier in the First World War. Sassoon describes this young man’s life before the war, and how â€Å"simple† it was, and how satisfied he was with it. The poet then goes to talk about the war, and the horror of it. It’s as if Sassoon is making a list of all that is wrong and bad about the war, but mainly what is wrong with the trenches. In the second stanza he stresses the awful health conditions, loneliness, patriotism, and the lack of resources the soldiers faced in the trenches. Siegfried Sassoon’s use of the word â€Å"and† in the second stanza is as if he is building up to the point where this man can’t take any more of it, so he commits suicide. Sassoon then speaks directly to us, like Wilfred Owen in â€Å"Dulce et Decorum Est†, both poets are disgusted by this war, but mostly by the people who cheer and support the soldiers. In a way, they both makes us feel guilty about it. In the first stanza, Siegfried Sassoon uses the adjective â€Å"simple† to describe the soldier’s life before the war. He led a â€Å"simple† life, but was satisfied with it. The adjective â€Å"simple† could have also been used to indicate that this was a boy, â€Å"simple† and naà ¯ve. The poet also says â€Å"who grinned at life in empty joy†. This suggests that this â€Å"boy† didn’t have many aims in life, and didn’t let anything really bother him. This could also mean that he was from a working background, like a farm. The sentence â€Å"And whistled early with the lark† suggests that he had to get up early, like a farmer. Unlike â€Å"Dulce et Decorum Est†, the first stanza in â€Å"Suicide in the Trenches† is quite positive. Sassoon uses words like â€Å"joy†, â€Å"grinned†, and â€Å"slept soundly†. Sassoon also uses open vowels, â€Å"boy† and â€Å"joy†, which are light words to say. All these words accentuate his freedom and happiness. Siegfried Sassoon uses these particular words for a contrast in the next stanza, where all these negative and heavy words are used. The poet does this contrast to toy with our emotions. The poet also might have done this to emphasize the harshness and reality of war, and how different it is to this boy’s simple but satisfied life. In the second stanza, Sassoon uses the rhyming couplet â€Å"glum† and â€Å"rum†. These are quite heavy words, and not like the open vowels used in the first stanza. Siegfried Sassoon uses these to emphasize the soldiers, how â€Å"glum† and weary they were, and to highlight how tiring and difficult it was for them. The words â€Å"lack of rum† could mean two things; that literally there was no rum, or he was less energetic, because rum dulls the senses. Maybe without it he can’t cope. I have said before that Sassoon’s use of the word â€Å"and† and his lack of punctuation in the first two lines to drag the sentences on, and that makes it longer, and makes it sound longer too. In a way Sassoon is building up all the horrible things to the point where this young man can’t take any more of it. This creates sympathy for the soldiers who faced conditions like this. Siegfried Sassoon only uses two lines to portray the conditions of war, whilst Wilfred Owen uses many more lines and makes it longer and more detailed. In the third line of the second stanza, the sentence â€Å"He put a bullet through his brain.† Finishes with a full stop. The full stop used here highlights the fact that this man’s life has ended. His life, like the sentence, has come to a stop. Sassoon uses punctuation here, to stop and make you think about what has actually just happened. The next line â€Å"No one spoke of him again.† Is a change in the rhythm. Throughout the poem so far, there has been eight syllables in each line, but when we get to this sentence there is only seven syllables. Sassoon changes the rhythm here to stress the fact there isn’t any need to speak of this man again. Although, the change in rhythm could also mean that people are in a way ashamed to speak of this man again, because he committed suicide, everyone overlooks him as a coward. The poet uses a full stop here as well, to make the reader stop and acknowledge what has just happened. The third stanza is like the last stanza in â€Å"Dulce et Decorum Est†. The poets speak directly to us and tell us how they feel about the war, and how disgusted they are by it. The tones used by both the poets in the last stanza are a little sympathetic but really angry, this illustrates their actual feelings of war. The tone used is also sort of disgraced, as if Sassoon is ashamed of crowd of people cheering at these young lads. It makes us think about what we think of war, and makes us question ourselves on our opinions etc. When Sassoon uses the metaphor â€Å"hell† he is describing war as â€Å"hell†. This gives a clear and evident image to relate to. Wilfred Owen also uses the image of hell in â€Å"Dulce et Decorum Est† too. This image makes the reader understand that war is a hellish and horrible place. When Siegfried Sassoon says â€Å"youth and laughter† he is trying to get the image across that these are young â€Å"lads†. He uses words like â€Å"simple†, â€Å"lads†, â€Å"boy†, â€Å"youth and laughter† to underline that these were naà ¯ve insecure children. It is clear that Siegfried Sassoon disapproves of the fact that children of fighting in this hellish place. Wilfred Owen also does this in â€Å"Dulce et Decorum Est†. Wilfred Owen says â€Å"My friend you would not tell with such high zest to children ardent for some desperate glory, the old lie† Siegfried Sassoon uses the word â€Å"kindling†, to describe the â€Å"eye(s)† of the â€Å"smug-faced crowds†. Sassoon tries to show with a sarcastic tone that they think war is a glorious thing, that they feel proud of these children, and seem to understand and appreciate what they are doing. But in reality, they can never imagine what these children are going through, and in reality, they don’t care or feel appreciative of what the children did. Therefore, the word kindling reveals the hypocrisy behind people who support war. The structure of this poem is different to â€Å"Dulce et Decorum Est†. Sassoon uses rhyme and rhythm to make the poem sound light and bouncy. He not only does this to make it more memorable, but he does this to emphasize the contrast of what the â€Å"smug-faced crowd’s† impression and enthusiasm towards war, and what the reality and harshness of war actually is. Siegfried Sassoon also could of used the rhyme and rhythm like this, because it sort of like a children’s poem. He could have done this to accentuate the naive young man’s death. â€Å"Dulce et Decorum Est† was dragged out more, and longer. The rhyme is different and wasn’t as noticeable as â€Å"Suicide in the Trenches†. Also in â€Å"suicide in the trenches†, Sassoon stresses all the good and jolly words in stanza one, to reflect the boy’s happy/joyful life. In stanza two though, Sassoon stresses all the bad and negative words to point out the awful conditions. This makes you, as a reader, feel the sympathy for the soldiers. After reading and analysing both the poems, I prefer â€Å"Dulce et Decorum Est†. I like this poem better, because the poet used very detailed imagery. Wilfred Owen describes the scene more, and describes the soldiers as well. I had more images to relate to, and that helped me to understand the poem’s message, and poet’s feeling and what he was trying to put across. I also like the idea that Wilfred Owen didn’t give much away to what the poem was about, and left you thinking and wondering after reading the title. Although the rhyming in â€Å"Suicide in the Trenches† is more memorable, I like the fact that in â€Å"Dulce et Decorum Est†, you don’t really recognize the rhyme at first. But I do like the poem â€Å"Suicide in the Trenches†, but I felt it more effective that Wilfred Owen uses his personal traumatic experience to explain what war is actually like. (Thankyou for reading my essay! I hope you enjoyed it and that it helped you!! 🙂

Medicalization Essay

Medicalization describes a process by which a non-medical problem becomes defined and treated as a medical problem, usually in terms of illness and disorders. Medicalization used to be focused on deviance, now it focuses on a range of human problems. Medicalization is increasing as technology advances. There are many things that have become medicalized such as Alcoholism, mental disorders, eating disorders, sexual dysfunction, etc. There are three degrees of medicalization. 1. Fully medicalized, example would be severe mental illness. 2.  Partly medicalized, example would be menopause. 3. Minimally medicalized, example would be sexual addiction. The factors that affect the degrees are the support of medical profession, available treatment, and medical insurance. In the end medicalization has increased the profitability and markets of pharmaceutical and biotechnological firms. Many factors have contributed to the rise of medicalization. For instance the loss in religious, the increase of faith in science, rationality, progress, increased prestige and the power of the medical profession. The medical profession and the expansion of medical jurisdiction were prime movers for medicalization. Medicalization has also occurred through social movements. Doctors are not the only ones involved in medicalization now, patients are active collaborators in the medicalization of their problem. The Vietnam veteran movement medicalized PTSD; AIDS treatment was done by the gay and lesbian movement, and PSM with the woman’s movement. There are both positive and negative consequences to medicalization. With everything being medicalized, some people have a better chance functioning well in society. If they are really shy, they will be diagnosed with Anxiety Disorder, and will be medicated to interact efficiently in society. People are no longer depressed, disoriented because of medical intervention, for example, menopause and anorexia. It can really improve the self-esteem of some individuals. Those were some of the positive consequences of medicalization. There are a few negative consequences as well. For instance, medicalization transforms human differences into pathologies. Example, a child with a different learning size will be accused of having a learning disability or having ADHD. By transforming all of these differences into pathologies, it will diminish our tolerance for and appreciation of the diversity of human life. Eventually every person will be labeled as sick. In the Dr. Jarvik article, the speaker demonstrates how old age is being medicalized. It isn’t acceptable to age, because one should stay young. Medicalization has brainwashed people into thinking that somethings aren’t normal when really they are. As people age they are pushed to take all of these medications to stay young and feel good, when it should be socially acceptable to age. A good example of a way medicalization has been resisted would be demedicalization. Gays have changed the definition of homosexuality from illness to lifestyle. Same thing with masturbation, it used to be considered an illness, now its something natural that most people do. These examples contradict medicalization since they have been demedicalized. Disabilities went from medical problem to societal problem. Childbirth used to have been done in a hospital under drugs. Now woman have many options on how they would like to give birth. Parents have refused to give children medication for their ADHD because they belive it wont benefit them. One example from the article would be the â€Å"ana is my friend† website that they mentioned. It is a website that helps anorexic people learn to live an anorexic lifestyle. They don’t promote it they just help anorexics adjust. In the end, Medicalization plays a huge role in todays society. It will keep on expanding from here, and along will come its consequences.

Belgacom Case Study

Belgacom Case Question 1 a) Why did the share price of Belgacom increase following the announcement of the acquisition? b) Why did the ratings of Belgacom drop (S&P) or put on negative watch (Moody’s)? a) As Belgacom secured the purchase of the remaining 25% share of Proximus it did not own yet, the share price of the Belgian company increased by 0. 92 % the same day and 9. 8% over the following month. An announcement can lead to pre-event abnormal returns as markets react to this information to get a premium.Investors will try to assess the increase in expected earnings and dividends. The impact of this assessment will depend on how the merger is done, how the transaction is paid, the sector it concerns, etc. However, according to market efficiency theories, overreaction on stock prices tend to disappear in the long-run and the price reflects the present value of expected returns. (FAMA, 1998) That being said, several reasons may explain this jump.First, we can underline the fact that this operation enables Belgacom to collect all the benefits of Proximus. Before the purchase, 25% of the earnings of Proximus were placed in minority interests, these were payable to Vodafone. After the operation, Belgacom owns 100% of the shares and can enter all the cash of its subsidiary in its accounts. It represents an increase of the future cash flow not only for the firm but also for its current shareholders, which will be comforted to receive more in the future or that their shares represent more cash.This is due to the decision of Belgacom to finance its acquisition by debt which doesn’t give ownership rights to the bond owners. Fig. 1: Evolution of Belgacom Share Price (2005-2008) Second, Belgacom was familiar with Proximus business as Belgacom (75%) founded the company with Airtouch (25%) in 1994, creating by this way the first mobile phone operator in Belgium. b) Unlike the market, rating agencies did not welcome positively this transaction: Moodyâ€℠¢s changed its outlook to negative and Standard&Poors downgraded Belgacom rating to A from A+. Moody’s xplained that it keeps Belgacom’s rating unchanged because according its methodology designed for GRI (Government-Related Issues), there is no change in Belgacom solvability. Moody’s GRI methodology use three inputs: the rating and the outlook of Belgium, the low level of default dependence and the medium level of support from the Belgian government. While there is no change in those inputs, there should be no change in Belgacom rating. That being said, several indicators lead the agency to wonder about the ability of the Belgian company to deal with its creditors.First, Belgacom announced a bunch of outflows for the months to come: just at the same time, Belgacom decided to sell its 5,8% stake in Neuf Cegestel to SFR: the outcome of the operation was EUR 187 million plus a share buyback (maximum 200 million) and a dividend in 2006 for EUR 100 million. Futhermo re, Belgacom decision to use its current financial stability and therefore weaken its debt ratios. As for Standard&Poors, the agency decided to downgrade the rating of the Belgian firm from A+ to A.S&P said this decision lies on the fact that the Belgacom debt will rise of about EUR 2 billion, making notably increase the debt/Ebitda ratio from 0,8 to 1,9. Moreover, its business in a competitive and liberalized market, as well as the decline of fixed lines market make fear for future results of the company. However, the outlook remains stable, that can be explained by the strong position of the company on the Belgian telecom market and its huge ability to generate cash. Question 2 a) Why was the acquisition financed by a bridge loan? ) What were the alternative financing sources? a) Bridge loans are short-term financial instruments usually used to lock-in a settled price( (frequent in Real Estate Market). This practice buys time for the deal maker to sort things out and to better str ucture its financing scheme. This seems to be the main rationale for Belgacom in this case. The management wanted to lock-in the price agreed on with Vodafone and as the deal was subordinated to the Belgian Authorities approval, it was more cautious to make it happen right away.Yet there is another way to see a bridge loan as a temporary expensive loan serving the purpose of being an intermediate financing mean for the company that benefits from it (Fabozzi, 1991). Later on, this bridge loan is reimbursed with more advantageous types of loans. was in fact a syndicated loan underwritten in order to finance an acquisition. As a matter of facts, the loan was made by several lending institutions called the mandated lead arrangers i. In the case of Belgacom, the company took a bridge loan for several reasons that are detailed below.The bridge loan e. BNP Paribas, Citi, Fortis, ING and JP Morgan. For the investment banks that underwrite the syndicated loan, the main interest resides in th e fact that they gain a fee. In this specific case, the bridge loan was arranged as a revolving credit instrument type. This meant Belgacom had to pay a fee plus interest expenses and can draw-repay-redraw as many times as needed. As said before, a first valid reason would be that the cash was needed quickly (maybe) and bridge loans are arranged more quickly.In any case it is in the best interest of the company (Belgacom here) to reimburse the bridge loan as quickly as possible because it is very expensive and the interest rate generally increases with the maturity. Moreover issuing corporate bonds takes time. In fact, there are four main steps to issue a bond in the bond market. First, there is the pre-mandate phase which aims to determine the funding needs or whether it is the right time to tap the bond market. Additionally, the currency has to be determined, the market as well plus the targeted investors.After that, comes the book building process which is one of the most importa nt tasks that consists of taking the orders from the investors. Then, a range for the coupon rate has to be determined and the amounts have to be allocated to the investors. Those steps could typically take weeks. Helping companies with short term funding is thus a major need for the client. Another reason may be that it gives Belgacom time to wait for more favourable economic conditions for issuing the bonds. Depending on investor’s appetite, timing is in fact crucial in such deals.Now, from the investment bank’s perspective, there is possibly a conflict of interest as the investment bank is at the same time creditor (through the bridge loan) and the entity that prices the securities that will be used to reimburse this loan. One could argue the investment bank could lack objectivity (Glazer, 1989). However, this constitutes an additional incentive for the book runners to successfully carry the deal to its end. Additionally, four of the five banks that granted the brid ge loan became the joint book runners. To that extent, there are clearly business interests which are involved.This can be interesting for the investment bank in order to get closer to the client. Moreover, this form of short term financing is more expensive for the company because it bears higher risks. Alternatively, it means that it is more lucrative for the investment bank as well. To sum up, bridge loans seem to be a lucrative source of profits for investment banks. First, they place themselves in a comfortable position to issue bonds for the company later on. Second, they can diversify their revenues and be a good candidate for the bond issuance.As a matter of facts, four of the five banks providing the bridge loan took care of bond issuance. b) Alternatives to bridge loans were traditionally letters of comfort written by the investment bank stating that the bank was ‘highly confident’ that the additional financing needed by the company could be obtained. This imp lies no bridge funding at all. Hence the alternative would be to wait for the bonds to be issued. The risk here however would consist of being too late for acquiring the target. Another alternative would be to use your own capital to fund the acquisition in the short run.This depends, of course, on the ability of Belgacom to generate such a large amount of cash. Yet another option would have been to raise more capital by issuing shares with the agreement of its existing shareholders. However, this option could have been detrimental to existing shareholders: the Belgian state which had a major stake in Belgacom with 50. 1% of the shares. Here is a summary of all the plausible alternatives: * Pay with retained cash: Belgacom could put 2Bnâ‚ ¬ on the table for Vodafone’s stake (assuming that the amount was available at the time).Although, this is known as the worst case scenario for current shareholders. Putting the cash in an acquisition would also have constrained Belgacom to lower (even cancel) its expansion investments. * Go straight to the Market: Belgacom could issue the bonds without taking the bridge loan but since the company had no prior bonds outstanding in the secondary market, the pricing would have been necessary anyway and it takes time and money to process it. The risk in that case is the agreement with Vodafone; other players could profit from the info and buy the stake in order to sell it back to Belgacom at a premium.Question 3 Assuming the 5-year swap rate was 3. 922% and the 10-year swap rate was 3. 977% at the time of pricing the deal (primary market), could you calculate: a) The yield for investors The yield is composed of the risk-free interest rate and the risk premium. The risk-free rate is usually defined as the rate of a government bond or the interbank rates (ex: Euribor) for the same maturity. However, the swap rate is used for maturities beyond 12 months. Here, the explanatory statement assumes that the 5-year and the 10-y ear swap rate were respectively 3,922% and 3,977%.The credit spread or risk premium depends on the maturity and the quality of the issuer. After comparing the coupon offered by companies with the same risk profile from the telecom peer group in the secondary market, the explanatory note explains banks’ position which suggested to issue the 5Y bond and the 10 Y bond with a spread guidance of respectively 30-35 bp and 60-65 bp. Bonds 5 and 10 years| Years to| 2006| | | Maturity| 5 years| 10 years| | | Swap Rate (rf)| 3,92%| 3,98%| | | | Min| Max| Min| Max| | | Risk Premium| 0,30%| 0,35%| 0,60%| 0,65%| | |Face Value| â‚ ¬ -100,00| â‚ ¬ -100,00| â‚ ¬ -100,00| â‚ ¬ -100,00| | | Yield to Maturity| 4,222%| 4,272%| 4,577%| 4,627%| | | Coupon Rate| 4,125%| 4,250%| 4,500%| 4,625%| | | Price â‚ ¬| â‚ ¬ 99,57| â‚ ¬ 99,90| â‚ ¬ 99,39| â‚ ¬ 99,98| | | Price %| 99,57%| 99,90%| 99,39%| 99,98%| | | Fees| 0,15%| 0,15%| 0,25%| 0,25%| | | Proceeds| 99,42%| 99,75%| 99,1 4%| 99,73%| | | Cost %| 4,256%| 4,306%| 4,609%| 4,659%| | | Table 1: Results for the Bond Issuance Thus, the yield for investors should be the sum of the risk-free and the risk premium rate: * Min. 4,222% and max. 4,272% for the 5-year bond * Min. 4,577% and max. 4,627% for the 10-year bond ) The coupon rate The coupon rate is the amount of interest payable on the bond. It is important to keep in mind that the market practices want the yield to vary by steps of 0,125%. Therefore, according to table 1, the yield for the investor varies between 4,125 and 4,250 for a 5-year maturity bond and 4,5% and 4,625% for a 10-year maturity bond. c) The issue price The issue price is the price at which investors buy the bonds in the primary market. The bond issue price is the present value of the bond’s cash flow. To obtain this price, we have to use the coupon rate, the face value and the yield for investor as described in this formula:Issue Price = Coupon 1(1+y)+ Coupon 2(1+y)? +†¦ +Coupon n1+yn+ Face value1+yn At issuance, the subscriber will pay: * Min. 99,57%, Max 99,90% for a maturity of 5-year * Min. 99,39%, Max 99,98% for a maturity of 10-year d) The cost for Belgacom The cost to maturity for the issuer y is defined as: Issue Price – Fees of the bookrunners = Coupon 1(1+y)+ Coupon 2(1+y)? +†¦ +Coupon n1+yn+ Face value1+yn The rate y solving (cost to maturity) this equation is: * Min. 4,256%, Max 4,306% for a maturity of 5-year * Min. 4,609%, Max 4,659% for a maturity of 10-year e) Cash Flows Here are the cash flows for the issuer. For a maturity of 5 years: At inception (time 0), the issuer receives (99,57%-0,15%)=99,42% multiplied by the total face value. Every year for 5 years, the issuer pays the coupons of 4,125% * face value of the bonds At maturity, the issuer has to repay the whole face value plus the last coupon. | | | | | | | | | | | | Cash Flows as % of Face Value| 5y-Bond| 0| 1| 2| 3| 4| 5| | | | | | Bottom| 99,42| -4,125| -4,125| -4,125| -4,125| -104,125| | | | | | Up| 99,75| -4,25| -4,25| -4,25| -4,25| -104,25| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 10y-Bond| 0| 1| 2| 3| 4| 5| 6| 7| 8| 9| 10|Bottom| 99,14| -4,50| -4,50| -4,50| -4,50| -4,50| -4,50| -4,50| -4,50| -4,50| -104,50| Up| 99,73| -4,63| -4,63| -4,63| -4,63| -4,63| -4,63| -4,63| -4,63| -4,63| -104,63| | | | | | | | | | | | | Question 4 Consider an outstanding corporate bond in the secondary market (issued a few months ago). All else being equal, the market suddenly perceives a more important credit risk associated with the considered issuer. What impact should it have on: a) The credit spread The credit risk is the risk that the issuer may default and not pay back the full amount he owes to bondholders (the total face value of the bonds).The credit spread translates the uncertainty about potential future stock price movements†. (Berk, 2011) If the market suddenly perceives more important credit risk associated with the issuer, the credit spread will widen as the market is perceived has being relatively safer. The payoff associated to extra credit risk is a higher yield. Therefore, the credit spread represents a bonus for investors when supporting extra risks. Fig 2: Yield curves Source: CFA b) The yield There are two components in the yield: the risk free rate and the credit spread. All else being equal, if the credit spread widens, the yield increases. ) The price Investors want to pay less for a risky bond having the same pay-offs as a risk-free bond. By taking more risk, the final amount the investor expects to receive may be less than what he will get as there is a credit default risk. (Berk et al. , 2011) The variable on which the market has a direct influence on in order to adjust for a higher yield is the market price. Due to the negative relation between the yield and the price and if the coupon payments and the principal repayment remain unchanged, the price must decrease in order to translate the surge in the yield.T his is particularly relevant when the issuer is the target of a leveraged buyout, which, in most cases, is leveraged by the issuance of new bonds. The increased debt used in order to make such financial actions often decrease the totality of the bonds of the issuer to a status of  «Ã‚  junk bonds  Ã‚ ». Question 5 How would you assess Belgacom’s position with regard to the qualitative factors enumerated to assess the pricing ? * Issue premia for recent transaction First of all, this is the first bond offering issued by Belgacom.Therefore, it cannot be referred to a previous premium offered in its own recent transactions. Therefore, the reference will be the telecom peer group having the same risk profile. * After market performance of recently launched deals The issue premia have widened for two main reasons. First, a trend towards more acquisition in the Telecom sector since 2005. Second, the Telecom sector suffers from the fact its services are more and more commoditize d which in turn may hurt the profitability of a Telecom company. At the time it was expected the bond could be split in three types.A floating rate note and two fixed rate notes. It was expected the 3-year FRN had a spread of 15bp to 20bp whereas the fixed 5-year note would have a 30bp to 35bp spread. Finally the 10-year note would have had a spread of 60bp to 65bp. With regards to recent transactions, Deutsche Telekom was offered a spread of 20bp for a 3-year floating note. 15-20bp is thus potentially better for Belgacom. As far as the fixed notes are concerned, Belgacom seems to benefit for a slightly better spread for 10-year notes but not for the 5-year ones as the one of Deutsche Telekom was only of 17bp in April 2006. Date| Swap 5-y| Swap 10-y| Coupon| Spread(bp)| Currency| Amount| Deutsche T| April 2006| 3. 83%| | 4%| 17| EUR| 750m| Deutsche T| May 2006| | 4. 13%| 4. 75%| 62| EUR| 500m| Telefonica| Feb 2006| 3. 42%| | 3. 75%| 33| EUR| 2250m| Telefonica| Feb 2006| | 3. 68%| 4. 37%| 69| EUR| 1750m| Vodafone| Jun 2006| | 4. 07%| 4. 75%| 68| EUR| 300m| * Are investors liquid? (hedge funds) However, according to the case, investor’s appetite remained high at that time. In fact, bond issuances remained low because corporates generated increasingly more cash flows and made use of cheaper ways of funding. Market sentiment? (world, Belgium, politics) There has been a lot of deleveraging followed by acquisitions in the past years. Moody’s says the economy of Belgium is only weakly correlated with Belgacom’s credit quality. However, for companies that are partly owned by the state, the credit quality of the Sovereign may play a greater role. At that time however, there was no political complications in Belgium yet. In 2006, the subprime crisis had not begun yet either. Hence one could argue the political setting was relatively clear.Moreover, there were strong liberalization policies pushed by the EC and investors were afraid that the Belgian state would disinvest in Belgacom after the following elections. The Belgian state had already to divest, keeping 50,1% of the share. Therefore, investors wanted an insurance against a change of control in case the Belgian State sold his participations but also to cover the risk against an LBO. As Belgacom could not introduce a step-up language, it could have had an impact on the credit spread by increasing it. * Credit Spread volatility Credit spread rose significantly more for telecom companies in 2005-2006.This was due to the fact the telecom companies ventured more in acquisition activities during that period. 5-year and 10-year credit spread for A-rated telecom companies respectively rose 10bp and 20bp during that period. * Saturation effect in investors portfolio? Are investors sick of telecom bond issuances? In principle, investors were not sick of telecom bond issuances as the one of Belgacom would add diversification to their portfolio. What is more, Belgacom was seen as a safe and relatively liquid company as they were previously weakly leveraged. * Amount raised in the pastAs far as Belgacom is concerned, the company has never issued any bond. Hence this was a premiere for the company. If we look at the issue amount of comparable transactions in the peer group of the same year, telecom issuers have issued in 2006 from three to 5 times with an issue amount from 500 million. For example, Telefonica issued in 2006 a total of 11. 750 million â‚ ¬ * Credit quality of issuer and peers In terms of credit quality, Belgacom is better than most competitors. This is mostly due to the fact that Belgacom was weakly leveraged before the issuance.For instance, EBITDA/Interest expenses of France Telecom, Telecom Italia and KPN was between 2. 4x and 7. 2% while Belgacom’s was 93x. However, Belgacom wasn’t the best according to credit rating agencies. The considered peer group is made of France Telecom, Telecom Italia, KPN and Belgacom. Moreover, Moo dy’s seems to give to Belgacom a better rating that Fitch. Therefore, we may suppose that Belgacom’s cost of issuance may be slightly lower than those of his peer group. Question 6 What is a change of control put provision? How would it have protected investors?Why did some investors think the step-up language would not be useful? Looking at the step-up language, what would be the coupon rate if the rating of Belgacom was downgraded a) to BBB- (S&P)/Ba1 (Moody's)? b) to BB+ (S;P)/Ba1 (Moody's)? A change of control put provision is an option given to the bondholder to get its bond repaid before maturity at par or above, in the event of change of control followed by a rating downgrade (e. g. after an LBO). Companies may be reluctant to issue bonds including this clause, because it can place more constraints on their finances as investors have the power to control repayments.Besides, it protects investors so they can have the opportunity to change their investment decisio n strategy if the issuer would happen to change its ownership. In case of a LBO, for example, the ownership of the company is transferred by using debt relying on the future cash flows of the company. According to (Rosenbaum et al. , 2007), â€Å"a target only represents an attractive LBO opportunity if it can be purchased at a price and utilizing a financing structure that provides sufficient returns with a viable exit strategy. In such a case, a former bondholder would see the credit risk he faces considerably increase, given the amount of additional debt supported by the company. This clause should then enable a bond investor to exit his position without bearing that increased risk because firstly, the change of control was likely, since the Belgian government was seeking to sell its stake in Belgacom and secondly because some argued that the inclusion of a step-up language taking the form of a +50bp in interest payment per downgrade below investment grade would be far from comp ensating the additional risk they would be bearing.In the case of Belgacom, there were some concerns about this possible withdrawal of Belgian state from its majority stake, intensified by the fact that the company could also be the target of a potential LBO operation as explained above. In order to reassure prospective investors and consequently lower interest rates for long term bonds (10 years), it has been considered to include such a clause in the deal. Therefore, Belgacom finally decided to add a step-up language despite the concerns emitted by some investors.The main benefit of the step-up language is that investors will usually get the initial coupon above the market and will also know what is to expect from their bond(s) over a longer-term period. However, bonds including a step-up language present the disadvantage of being callable by the issuer in order to issue it at lower rate to reduce their cost of borrowing which is the reason why some investors were reluctant concer ning the step-up. In the case of Belgacom, a downgrade in the rating would have had the following impact on the coupon rate: ) If the rating of Belgacom would have been downgraded to BBB- (S&P) / Ba1 (Moody's) and if the lowest rating is taken into account which is Ba1 (one grade below investment grade), the interest paid (coupon rate) would have increased by +50bp. b) In this scenario, both rating agencies consider a one notch downgrade below investment grade leading therefore to a +50bp increase in the interest rate paid. Bibliography BERK J. , DeMARZO P. (2011) â€Å"Corporate Finance – Global edition† Second edition, Pearson edition, pp. 001 FABOZZI F. (1991) â€Å"The handbook of Fixed Income Securities†, Mc Graw-Hill edition, Third edition, p. 224 FAMA E. (1998) â€Å"Market efficiency, long-term returns, and behavioral finance† Journal of Financial Economics, 49, pp. 283-306 GLAZER A. (1989) â€Å"Acquisition bridge financing by investment banks à ¢â‚¬â€œ bridge financing, as source of revenue for investment bankers, poses risk and conflict of interest† Business Horizons magazine, Sep-Oc 1989, Website: http://findarticles. om/p/articles/mi_m1038/is_n5_v32/ai_8120675/ (Seen in April 2012) ROSENBAUM J. , PEARL J. (2009)  «Ã‚  Investment Banking  : Valuation, Leveraged Buyouts and Mergers ; Acquisitions  Ã‚ » Wiley finance Vodafone Non Official Website  : www. vodafonews. com/belgique. html (Seen in April 2012) ——————————————– [ 1 ]. www. vodafonews. com/belgique. html [ 2 ]. Exhibit 13