Metapath’s capital structure Essay

Questions: 1. Analyze Metapath’s capital structure, in particular the various forms and prices of preferred stock from the previous rounds of financing. How has this capital structure affected the offer from Robertson & Stephens? How would RSC’s participating preferred interact with the other tranches of preferred stock? Up to the date in issue, Metapath has raised $9m in four rounds of financing, of which two occurred simultaneously in the beginning. The two participating investors, Bessemer and STI, which supplied the initial funds, received redeemable preferred for the total amount of $1.6m, the third and fourth rounds brought in $1m and $7m respectively (in both cases preferred convertible were issued), with the calculated price for common being the same for the first three rounds ($1.05) and higher ($1.62) for the fourth round. In case of non-conversion, the last issue was supposed to be paid out first, then the last but one, finally, the first two issues, on a pro rata basis. All of the issues had demand registration rights provision, however, the third and the fourth issues, had more leeway in the exercising of the rights (not only on request of 50%+ of all the issues, but also after-IPO or specific date (July 31, 1999), whichever is earlier), thus protecting the interests of the holders. That said, in fact the holders of the two first issues in many respects enjoyed the position of debt holders, with a scheduled payment of principal and dividends. Given the structure and the fact the managers hadn’t invested from their own pockets, RSC suggested investment in participating convertible preferred shares supposed to protect RSC from possible early sale, which would enrich the management disproportionally and leave RSC abused. Through PCPT, RSC would be able to keep both liquidation preference (with the right to receive the first payment in the amount of invested capital and accrued, not unpaid dividend (8%), before any other security holders receive their part) and equity participation along with other investors (after payment of similar to its own liquidation preference), thus, staying in a highly beneficial position. 2. How do you analyze the RSC offer? In particular, what is the value of the  participating preferred feature of the RSC syndicate? What are the risks to the Metapath shareholders if the board accepts the RSC offer? Even though the company has only projected its activity one quarter forward, is it possible to assess the reasonableness of the valuation? (The ten-year treasury rate in September 1997 was 6.21%). To value the participating feature, first, calculate the options’ values for $11.75% and $87.75 million exercise prices. For calculation, assume: ten-year option price; 40% volatility (corresponding to the middle stock volatility range 20-40%); abovementioned exercise prices ($11.75% and $87.75 million); valuation of $87.75 million is reflective of a true â€Å"asset† value; interest rate of 6.21% (as suggested). Apply Black-Scholes model to receive prices of $81.44 and $49.44 million for the two strikes respectively. For $11.75 is 13.4% of post-money $87.75, the price of the issue is $10.91 and $6.62 million respectively; hence, the participation feature’s value is c. $4.29 million. Therefore, the corresponding share of the company, which makes choice irrelevant is $81.44*0.134/$49.44=22%, that is concession of 22% of the company without the participation feature will make Series E holders equally happy, the corresponding price is 0.134/0.22*$6=$3.65 per share. Acceptance by the board of the RSC’s offer will put Metapath shareholders will add a new senior holder to claim the proceeds, both in case of early liquidation and in case of successful exist. This offer will reduce shareholders’ wealth not only by capital dilution, but also by the absolute amount of investments of Series E holders even in the case of future success. With negative earnings and absence of predictable cash flows, one can do the rough check on the basis of P/Sales ratio (given both companies’ (Metapath and Celltech) similar capital structure, the proxy seems reasonable). With the last quarterly figures as of June 1997, when numbers were available for both Celltech and Metapath, and considering the market cap of Celltech of approximately 260 million, the valuation of around 130 million could be used, which means the company might be worth more. The projections per se, however, don’t tell the story as the two segments (system sales and services) are expected to demonstrate different dynamics, so further investigation is needed. A cautionary note on Black-Scholes model application should be made: 3. Is the Celltech offer reasonable? How should the Metapath board view the Celltech stock? What are the risks for the Metapath shareholders if the board accepts the Celltech offer? While the Celltech’s offers seems to be more reasonable in terms of price offered, the shareholders may face additional risks, including the risk of Celltech’s stock price. While possible liquidity within near future (90 days plus other possible restrictions, which is considerably less than its own IPO in 1+ years) as well as lack of dilution appealed to the managers, the fluctuation in the price of Celltech may wipeout the fortune (the stock had only a short history and the view of insiders doesn’t seem to strongly support Celltech). Furthermore, the fit of the Metapath and Celltech’s businesses is questionable, with Metapath potential possibly higher than that of Celltech, which on the other hand may have a limited upside. 4. If you were on the Metapath board, which option would you support? While the offer of RSC is restrictive in many ways, it is more attractive for a team that will manage to perform. With a set of potential liquidity and financial risk questions, which may arise from Celltech’s financing, Metapath board should not only consider the price, but also other terms (which eventually will incentivize the management in the long-term success and keep its interest in business). With this in mind Metapath board will be better off with the RSC’s proposal, rather than Celltech’s.

How Milton develops Paradise Lost against Epic Tradition Essay

One of the passages in Paradise Lost is â€Å"Answerable Style† specifically the Genre of Paradise Lost wherein the main concern of Milton pertains to which genre must be chosen and not just a simple matter to seek the story’s perfect medium but the writer’s anxiety in placing himself with the poetic tradition known as old centuries. With his decision in writing an epic, Milton was able to place himself in the writers’ epic tradition like for instance the Medieval and Renaissance poets Dante. The content of the Paradise Lost is the classical and epic conceits in the Renaissance concerning heavenly beings with the possible interaction while using the epic similes as well as the places and people’s catalogues with muse invocations. This means that the themes’ content is usually common to epics like for example war, its nationalism, the empire and the origin stories. Another passage in Paradise Lost is â€Å"Things invisible to mortal sight†, which means the classical epics of gods and goddesses and the desires including disagreements are mirroring the human but that of Milton is omnipresent and also invisible. Milton’s God cannot be compared to any individual because of His existence. In Paradise Lost, the story was inspired by the heavenly muse wherein fallen humans are unknowable. God’s portrayal by Milton became the subject of such debate among those scholars as well as critics. Still Milton believes in God’s power and yet explains the foreknowledge of fall and yet human beings may even fall to temptations because of free will given by God to choose and made a decision for them. This is not comparable with those gods as well as goddesses in terms of the epics in classic because of different views and beliefs but still Milton has his own presentation in his belief with God.

According to case study...calculate data then analysis it about Essay

According to case study...calculate data then analysis it about Foreign exchange market - Essay Example My paper discusses some political risks, the implications, methods of valuation of stock, and risks associated with buying a business. Peterson Valve Company is interested in Milagrol LTDA because he thought of diversifying its operations globally and to gain access to processes that would be costly to develop. Milagrol LTDA needed the capital to support research and development to expand the business and they believed in venturing into a merger to be able to manage the research to expand the business. Milagrol was an already established company and had its share value in the market so Peterson did not have to start from scratch to develop the company. In buying a business an investor has to ensure that they have access to all important information about the company being bought, this way they can assess the potential risks associated with buying it and the real value of the business (Juha, 2008). Accessing all information of the company involves checking all the dimensions of the business such as financial performance, legal and tax compliance, contracts, property and rights and all assets and liabilities within a specified period of time (Miller, 1992). Some of the risks involved include changes in the branding of the company. These information will be crucial in making the buying decision and also help the values in reaching to a final method of stock valuation. The customers of Milagrol LTDA may have problems with a change in the management. Smart accountants can hide items such as debts of the company from the balance sheet and some of the expenses from the income statement hence acquiring a business with accumulated debts. C onsider the possibility of transferring losses from the old company to the newly acquired business, the practice of moving the business assets allows the newly acquired management to differentiate assets that they can develop from long term and short term losses.

Explaining behaviour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 1

Explaining behaviour - Essay Example The field of psychology is trying to groom personalities keeping in view that our actions are reflective of our thoughts. Human behaviour is a set of actions that a particular person exhibit as a reaction to the given state of affairs. In real life man can conclude by reasoning from self evident principles. Amazingly even after decades of advent of psychology, many theorists presented theories explaining behaviour yet they fail to present a standardized theory applicable to all individuals. This lack of harmony encountered by behaviourists concerning the behaviour problems signifies the complexity faced in the identification of behaviour problems and planning for intervention. Behaviour refers to the actions of an organism in relation to its environment. However (Papatheodorou, 2005) said that there is not a single definition of behaviour which can fully satisfy the people working with children. Everyone’s perspectives of understanding behaviour are different. Over the period of time many theories evolved trying to comprehend human behaviour in various aspects. A brief overview of the popular ones’ are discussed as follows: Behaviour in terms of biological perspective is the outcome of various biological principles such as genetics, evolution and brain activity. Our brain relates to perceptions, thinking, and other aspects of abnormal behaviour. Behaviour is largely understood as the result of electrochemical activities that take place within our nerve cells. (Gerrig J, 2007). Intervention means exerting an influence to modify current state of affairs. In order to treat the symptoms of mind disorders and emotional disturbance drug therapy is used which include regular use of prescribed medications for treatment. (www.minddisorders.com) Behaviourist perception is that ‘personality is a collection of learned behavioural patterns’. It continues to lay stress on objective observations

Women Rights Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Women Rights - Research Paper Example A clarification is needed at the beginning; respect for women rights is hardly a universal (Cook, pp.3). However, thanks to numerous women throughout history, women have achieved equal rights in the workplace (O’Connor, pp. 270). Marina Jimenez (2011), a journalist wrote a personal essay stating that she suffered no discrimination at the workplace, for she received numerous assignments, traveled the world and shone in her career. She also elaborates that while she faces a major problem of combining childbearing with career, women have taken great strides in their careers (Jimenez, 2011). In addition, on the eve of the 100th International Women’s Day, different executives were interviewed about whether they faced discrimination at the workplace. According to Shona Nag, she feels that males do try to dominate and cannot absorb the fact that women might be better than they might at work. However, Chavan feels that she has never faced any sort of harassment, except some amo unt of over-protectiveness from men (Mid Day, 2011). Women are an all important source of human talent. This was proved during the Second World War. Although many conferences are held on the gender equality issue, there are various parts of the world, whether there is no concept of ‘equality’. However, it is necessary. Many people feel that there is an urgent need for a better social welfare system for women. This is mainly because of economic dependence and an inappropriate pay structure for the women. Women are the backbone of the society.

Week 5 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Week 5 - Assignment Example When there is such a rapport between the mentor and the mentee, there is a continuous development of life skills among the mentees. Life skills developed include assertiveness, goal setting skills, time saving methods, critical thinking, creative thinking, career awareness, conflict resolution, finance management and decision-making. A mentor also assists the mentee in obtaining extra resources especially when it comes to education issues. He is a resource broker. He guides and advocates for the rights of the mentee. He is a professional manager rather than a counselor. He does increase the ability to interact with diverse people from various economic, social, political, and cultural backgrounds. It is possible especially through introduction into various workplace and school settings, and talking with people with different diverse behavior, character and attitude. All these are qualities my mother, who has been the best mentor in my life, which she possesses. She has been a real mentor to me and has portrayed excellent positive qualities of a mentor. She is a good listener, always listening to my pleas even. She is available when I need her most, especially when am discouraged and at the verge of giving up. She is such a caring and responsible adult. Essentially, she is my role model, and I do aspire to be like her. Even when I fail in a few areas, she does not give up on me, but shows me there is still a new room for

Case study business law Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Business law - Case Study Example For an adequate notice, all that is important is reasonable steps be taken b the proferens in bringing the exemption clause’s contents and existence to the notice of the individual that the clause is to be used against before or even during the time that the contract is entered into. When we take a look at the Balmain New Ferry Co v Robertson case, we find that it is without doubt that the requirement can be fulfilled by b the placement of the exemption’s terms on a notably displayed sign which would possible be seen by any normal or reasonable individual before or even during the time that they enter into the contract. A good case in instance is, Thomas v Shoe Lane Parking Ltd. Application: The board at the supermarket which had the readings ‘Nice to look at, Good to hold on, once broken considered sold,’ acts as a binding contract between Charles and the Bob Supermarket. It is clear that the supermarket met all the requirements to take care of its items a nd the clients as well. The clients or and any other person entering the supermarket is well made aware of the rules within the supermarket and any possible consequences once they are broken. Charles cannot claim to have not seen the notice as it is publicly displayed and should be seen by any reasonable individual. Conclusion: Therefore, the Bob Supermarket is right to ask Charles to pay for the broken tins of milk as there was sufficient notice to the clients as regards what is to be done within the supermarket or even how to interact with the items. Q2: Can Charles succeed in his claim against the Bob Supermarket for the poor quality of the phone and the poor photo taking quality? Discuss express and implied terms both under common law and the Sale of Goods Act 1986. Issues: Is the promise made by the Bob Supermarket to Charles bound by any law, or can it be considered legitimate? Principle: Past consideration cannot be considered to be a valid consideration (they are considered limited cases of exceptions where consequent promise would actually be binding). A good case in instance is Roscorla V Thomas. Consideration should be given to the actual promise that is given by the offerer. The consideration has to be simultaneous with the contract. Application: Exception usually come up where there will be a proper consideration if the offeree promises to make the payment and then consent to make a decision on the terms later; Servises that are offered at the request of the party making the promise, in conditions that come bring about an implication that a payment should be made for them; consequent promise might turn out to be binding in a contract of minors. Decision: There was no consideration since the contract had actually already been made before making the promise. This was therefore a past consideration. No breach of contract happened here as the promise made b the Bob Supermarket was not a compelling or valid consideration. Q3: Discuss whether the Bob Su permarket can use the exclusion terms effectively to protect themselves from Charles’ contract breach claims? Discuss using both common law principles and the Competition and Consumer Act 2010. Issue: The issue here is whether the warranty given was done before or during the time that the contract was entered or made by the parties. Judgment: The consumer protection constitutes organizations

Self-Designed Coaching Course of Independent Training for Industrial Research Paper

Self-Designed Coaching Course of Independent Training for Industrial Supervision - Research Paper Example One of the most fundamental skills that can be provided to newly hired supervisors on an industrial work site is understanding how to build a positive, unified organizational culture in order to gain follower commitment to the achievement of strategic goals and imperatives. Whether a safety culture committed to zero incidents or whether a culture of ethics designed to provide human capital advantages in relation to establishing a corporate name positively linked with social responsibility, supervisors must maintain knowledge in sociological and psychological domains to facilitate more effective interpersonal relationships with a variety of internal and external stakeholders. This report describes the rationale and intention behind a proposed independent training program with an emphasis on coaching in order to provide newly-hired supervisors with the skills and attitudes necessary to become more effective leaders. Coaching, in this context, is defined as recurrent conversations betwe en organizational stakeholders emphasizing opportunities for improvement and development, â€Å"aimed at exerting a positive influence on awareness, performance, and behavior† (CCMI 2010, p.2). 2. The rationale for Undertaking Supervisory Training Coaching establishes a partnership perception between trainees and the instructor, unlocking the potential for maximizing managerial performance and establishing clarity for how to overcome behavioral barriers to effective management processes. Industrial management differs from many other business industries, as industrial workplaces require more stringent control systems to ensure compliance as a matter of reducing liabilities (safety fulfillment), to meet oftentimes inflexible deadlines for work completion, and often require the supervisor to maintain centralized, top-down authority systems that negate shared decision-making. Concurrently, the supervisor will require blended knowledge of psycho-social, human behavioral characteri stics in order to gain followership and commitment to achieving short- and long-term strategic goals. The managerial demands imposed on supervisors on an industrial worksite require that the manager is given training that will construct or enhance pre-existing knowledge regarding managerial psychology in order to facilitate the development of an appropriate, cohesive organizational culture. Under respected models of human behavior, in order to gain meaningful commitment from stakeholders, managers must establish a priority sense of social belonging and enhance self-esteem development in order to gain inherent desire to achieve the maximum of individual performance (Maslow 1998; Morris and Maisto 2005). However, at the same time, much of the tangible work conducted on an industrial site demands stringent compliance measures to remove risks from the business model and ensure strict adherence to project deadlines. This is what complicates the process of industrial supervision over that of other industries, as the supervisor must maintain diverse and flexible leadership philosophies that effectively blend autocratic management with human-centric characteristics. This is why training on an industrial worksite is so critical for newly-hired supervisors.

A mid summer nights dream Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

A mid summer nights dream - Essay Example You will find that the entire plot collapses, in the absence of that simple-looking character; the story has lost most of its punch and strength! What laurels did Puck bring to the play, without being an important member of the team and what are his strengths and weaknesses? The character of Puck in â€Å"A Mid Summer Nights Dream,† is falls into the above category. He is there through the entire plot of drama, as if what they call—from the cradle to the grave and from the womb to the tomb. He doesn’t occupy the front seat in the sequence of characters. Yet, he controls them all with his witticisms and tricks. There is not a single character in the play that is not affected by the tricks of Puck; some of them are ‘injured seriously,’ with the Puck’s humor blow. He hits them hard by the deft handling of the meandering situations/graphs in the drama. In the ‘politics’ of the drama, Puck is an important political worker, who pulls and controls the strings from behind the curtain. He creates confusing situations, but also has the pre-panned solutions. He articulates crisis but knows that every crisis is an opportunity to further the cause of the overall beauty of the drama. The audience falls in love with him instantly. He is perhaps aware, what all complications his pranks are going to create. He is a dynamic spirit, but at times, Puck’s dynamism proves to be destructive. Some of his actions should have invited legal actions—but unfortunately such legal provisions to govern the affairs of love, did no exist during the Shakespearean times! He commits the serious mistake of applying the love potion to Lysander instead of Demetrius, thus causing total confusion amidst the group of lovers. His transforming Bottom’s head into that of an ass is difficult to condone taking into consideration the problem s that it created for Bottom! This

Quality Improvement Part 1 Essay Example for Free

Quality Improvement Part 1 Essay Examine three external indicators and how customers use the indicators as part of the Quality Improvement process; finally explain how stakeholder’s feedback is used in the quality Improvement process. Performance Measurement vs. Quality Improvement process â€Å"The primary concern of managers responsible for the operations of hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare delivery organizations is the quality of the non-clinical aspects of care over which they have most control, most visibility†. (Ransom Joshi Nash, 2008. P. 31). Performance measures are an important element of quality management process. Performance measures has the responsibility to directing their effort when change need to be institute. In the healthcare organization performance measures are a tool used to help managers understand and improve quality of care for patients and to develop a better functional programs for the staff. In contrast, Quality Improvement focuses on bridging the gap between current levels of quality. It is a way to be proactive in preventing errors or perhaps respond to near misses and develop a plan where safety is major components to process improvements. In case of medical errors, quality improvement help identify and see what changes can be made to improve or have preventive measures. Quality Improvement and quality Measures assist owners and managers with improving performances and raising performance standards. Norman Clinic Quality Improvement goals Norman Clinic of Physical Therapy is one of the largest hospitals in the state of Ohio. This clinic is about fifty (50) miles from downtown is dedicated to five key of quality measures. Emergency Services, Physical Therapy, Heart Failure, Surgical, pneumonia. This hospital offers a standard service and has earned its reputation in the management of individuals with disturbed functions or impairment related to neuromuscular, musculoskeletal, cardiopulmonary, and integumentary systems. Norman Clinic has specific service in quality improvement process such as reducing the occurrence of ventilation of patients in the ICU and NICU. Role of the Consumer Healthcare consumers play an important role in the quality improvement of Norman Clinic and can impact hospital’s reputation, and feedback received from consumers. During admission, each patient receives a booklet who allows him to understand the mission, the goal, and different realization of the clinic in intensive care. This booklet outlining way patients may become active member of the clinic, include the methods used by healthcare providers to meet patient expectation, reduce risk of infection, improve quality of care, decrease medication errors, increase customers satisfaction as it relates to pain management and post discharge care. External Quality Indicators

Printed slimming advertisements in Hong Kong

Printed slimming advertisements in Hong Kong Social institutions, such as family, education and mass media play an important role in the production and regulation of beliefs and practices of gender. Nowadays, advertising is a key institution of socialization in modern society and plays a crucial role in affecting public perception of women. When you walk on the street, slimming advertisements appear everywhere and there is no way to escape from receiving their messages. Undoubtedly, slimming has become a trend in Hong Kong. Moreover, those advertisements bombard us with ideal female images. Although it is widely believed that women have higher social status than the past and have more respect, there is a gap between the perceived female images in print media and real life. Thus, this paper argues that the printed slimming advertisements affect public perception of local women adversely since they often put emphasis on appearance and thinness, they objectify women by distorting the aesthetic standards of a human body and portray women as sex objects. Printed slimming advertisements may cultivate images of thinness. Fung (2006) estimates that there is around 30% of the pages of entertainment magazines advertisements directing at women. He further points out that those advertisements, especially slimming advertisements, have a great influence affecting the public perception on local women. Nowadays, printed slimming advertisements in magazines and on the billboards often suggest that one particular female image which conveys that an ideal body simply equals slim and not too small-breasted and taut, is socially valued. More importantly, those advertisements suggest the public that thin is in, fat is out (Lazier Kendrick, 1993, p. 209). Furthermore, printed slimming advertisements often attempt to create problems and fears that a fat body means more than something physical. According to those advertisements, a fat body tends to relate to some negative moral qualities. For example, a fat body is perceived as indicative of stupidity, laziness, sickness and self-indulgence. In addition, a fat body is the external sign of internal failure. On the contrary, those advertisements promote thinness as an image of grace, smartness, desirability and sex appeal. Those advertisements do not only tend to praise women with a slim body as fashionable and attractive, but also suggest that a thin body shows positive connotations of women. Thus, it is likely that printed slimming advertisements portraying local women should be thin and suggest that a fat body is not preferable. Along with thinness, appearance is often emphasized in printed advertisements. Almost all of the women in those printed advertisements are beautiful celebrities who are portrayed as professionals enjoying their lives, such as Cass Phang and Christy Chung of Marie France. For example, Fung (2006, p.175) points out that the advertisement of Marie France Bodyline by Christy Chung promotes the fashion of body contouring and gives the public an illusion of becoming a successful and professional woman through slimming. Therefore, printed slimming advertisements greatly affect public perception of local women adversely as they tend to acknowledge physical attractiveness and ignoring their inner beauty. Printed slimming advertisements tend to objectify women in order to distort the aesthetic standards of human body. Objectification means women are taught to internalize an observers perspective of their own bodies and more concerned with observable body attributes rather than focusing on non-observable body attributes such as feelings and internal bodily states (Kilbourne, 2002, as cited in Equal Opportunities Commission, p. 27). Therefore, the aesthetic standards of human body are likely to be distorted as women do not often treat their bodies as a whole by ignoring non-observable body attributes and putting their focus on body shape which should be similar with those figures in advertisements. As slimming companies aim at increasing the profit through those advertisement campaigns, a female body is commodified as a marketable product. According to Equal Opportunities Commission (2009), Greening suggests that advertising could be very powerful in shaping public perception toward wom en as selling objects and even tend to make the selling of womens body acceptable as it is one of the most powerful sources of education in society. Since the message on the printed slimming advertisements have great influence on women, such as those on the huge billboards outside shopping malls, a large number of women would like to compare themselves with the body shape and image on those advertisements. Moreover, they probably start to think that there is a need for them to conform to those beauty standards shown on the advertisements. They also view their faces as masks and their bodies as objects by denying the fact that everyones body should be unique and special. As a result, they are encouraged by those printed slimming advertisements to manipulate and change their faces and bodies through slimming. From the above, there may be a distortion of the aesthetic standards of the human body as women are likely to be portrayed as empty and decorative objects without individuality. Printed slimming advertisements may portray women as sex objects and women may portray as subordinate to men. It is widely believed that a large number of printed slimming advertisements display women with little clothes and even naked. Those advertisements often convey sexual information which defined by Harris (1994) as any representation that portrays or implies sexual interest, behaviour, or motivation (p.206), is often integrated within the advertisement as images, verbal element or both (Harris, 1994, as cited in Bohbot, 2003, p.13). For example, the printed advertisement of Fannie Yuen from Josephine Bust and Slimming Centre directs a readers gaze to her breasts. Thus, the printed slimming advertisements would affect public perception of local women as sex objects. The use of dismemberment in the printed slimming advertisements also makes women as sex objects. Dismemberment of women means it is the act of cutting, tearing, pulling, wrenching or otherwise removing, the limbs of a living thing (Equal Opportunities Commission, 2009, p.15). According to the Equal Opportunities Commission (2009, p.15), dismemberment of womens bodies is commonly seen in advertisements and highlight one part of a womans body, such as womans breasts and legs, while ignoring all other parts of her body, and portray women with missing appendages or substitute appendages. By using the technique of dismemberment, female bodies are collections of sexual features on display. By turning women into sex objects, womens role is distorted as women become weak and are subordinated by men. Subordinating women by men means that men always hold the power and authority and they treat women as their belonging as men assume that women are inferior. Models in printed slimming advertisements are passive and submissive, such as the printed advertisement of Sausontong showing the model lying on the floor with bikini. The passive and submissive poses suggest that women are for male sexual desire and s atisfy male gaze. According to Berger (2008), men are always spectators and women are always seen. The status of women is lowered by those advertisements as women are portrayed as sex objects. Thus, printed slimming advertisements may portray women as sex objects and women are portrayed as a subordination of men. It has been shown that public perception of women is affected by printed slimming advertisements negatively in Hong Kong. Those advertisements cherish the notion of thinness and appearance, dehumanize women as objects and even further devalue women as sex objects which subordinated by men. Therefore, I suggest that there should be guidelines and codes of conduct for advertising organizations. I hope that printed slimming advertisements in Hong Kong will portray women positively in the foreseeable future. References Berger, J. (2008)Ways of Seeing. Britian: Pengin Bohbot, M. (2003) What is Sex in Advertising. In Reichert, T. Lambiase, J. (Eds.), (p.13) Sex in advertising: perspectives on the erotic appeal. U.S.: Lawerence Erlbaum Associations Equal Opportunities Commission. (2009). Study of Public Perception of Female Portrayal of Female Gender in Hong Kong Media. Retrieved October 5, 2009, from http://www.eoc.org.hk/EOC/Upload/UserFiles/File/Report_Eng.pdf Fung, A. (2006). Gender and Adverting: The Promotional Culture of Whitening and Slimming. In Chan. K (Ed.), (p.175) Advertising and Hong Kong Society. Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press Lazier, L. Kendrick, A. (1993). Women in Advertisements: Sizing Up the Images, Roles, and Functions. In P.J. Creedon (Ed.), (p.209) Women in Mass Communication. London NY : Sage.

Free Essays - All Quiet on the Western Front :: All Quiet on the Western Front Essays

All Quiet on the Western Front Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front is one of the greatest war novels of all time. It is a story, not of Germans, but of men, who even though they may have escaped shells, were destroyed by the war. The entire purpose of this novel is to illustrate the vivid horror and raw nature of war and to change the popular belief that war is an idealistic and romantic character. The story centers on Paul Baümer, who enlists in the German army with glowing enthusiasm. But in the course of war, he is consumed by it and in the end is "weary, broken, burnt out, rootless, and without hope." Through Baümer, Remarque examines how war makes man inhuman. He uses excellent words and phrases to describe crucial details to this theme. "The first bomb, the first explosion, burst in our hearts." Baümer and his classmates who enlisted into the army see the true reality of the war. They enter the war fresh from school, knowing nothing except the environment of hopeful youth and they come to a premature maturity with the war, their only home. "We were eighteen and had begun to love life and the world; and we had to shoot it to pieces. We are not youth any longer." They have lost their innocents. Everything they are taught, "the world of work, duty, culture, and progress" are not the slightest use to them because the only thing they need to know is how to survive. They need to know how to escape the shells as well as the emotional and psychological torment of the war. The war takes an heavy toll on the soldiers who fight in it. The terror of death will infest the minds of soldiers and bring about horrible images of death and destruction until they break down and go to pieces. "Every hour and everyday, every shell and every death cuts this thin [line of sanity], and the years waste it rapidly." In these dangerous moments, anybody would have gone mad, have deserted their post, or have fallen. It takes a special kind of soldier to deal with this emotional abuse; a soldier who will not go to pieces at the sight of a mutilated body; it takes a soldier like Baümer. Baümer has "grown accustomed to it; war is the cause of death like influenza and dysentery.

Legal Advice and Funding :: Papers

Legal Advice and Funding Michelle wants to claim compensation for the injuries she has suffered in an accident. Identify and briefly describe where she could obtain advice about a possible claim. There are many places that offer advice regarding British law but few people know how to access these services. If Michelle looks in the right places she can obtain this legal advice for free. There are places that are funded by charities and there's also places like the Citizens Advice Bureau which is primarily funded by the government. If you were setting out to obtain legal advice, places like these is where you should start, they aim to provide access to justice to everyone who needs it. The CAB has over 2000 bureaux throughout the country. Volunteers that aren't actually legally qualified provide 'free, independent and confidential advice' on a variety of issues. They have arrangements with solicitors who will give a free initial interview. Five million people use this service every year. Another place for free advice is a law centre. There are only 51 law centres in the country (as of April 2003) and they are normally situated in socially deprived areas. Law centres provide free and independent, professional, legal advice as it is required in the area. They are staffed by solicitors, barristers, legal advisors and community workers who are paid and the funding for these salaries comes from local authorities and the Community Legal Service Fund. Some law centres will be better than others a factor that affects this is the demand for legal advice in the area. If Michelle went to a Law Centre she could expect to receive advice on issues like welfare rights, immigration, housing, employment, discrimination, mental health, juvenile crime, disability and children's rights. Another place which is probably overlooked quite a lot is organisations like the AA and R.A.C. However organisations like this will probably only help you with issues which relate to the organisations area of business. Also you must be a paying member to

The Powerful Use of Tone in John Colliers The Chaser :: John Collier The Chaser

The Powerful Use of Tone in John Collier's The Chaser  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   "Alan Austen, as nervous as a kitten, went up certain dark and creaky stairs in the neighborhood of Pell Street . . ." From the very outset of John Collier's "The Chaser," the protagonist, Mr. Austen, appears to be very apprehensive. While it may seem that a young man who is venturing into a strange old man's house to buy some sort of love potion is actually quite fearless, it is made clear through Collier's use of tone that Alan is anything but brave. Interestingly, while his situation pertaining to his sweetheart, Diana, never changes, Alan is so taken with the old man's words (which are really nothing more than a sales pitch) that he actually allows himself to let down his guard and be taken advantage of. Collier drastically alters Alan's demeanor over the course of his brief visit; in fact, by the end of the story, Collier's use of tone has changed he who was once "nervous as a kitten" into a man "overwhelmed with joy." He achieves this transition through his physical description s of Austen, as well as Austen's own words, and his fading skepticism surrounding the old man and his goods. The very first line of the book provides the most powerful and captivating image of Austen: "nervous as a kitten," slowly walking up "creaky stairs," "peering about for a long time on the dim landing." Collier is creating a clear sense of apprehension right away. This makes the contrast all the more striking when Mr. Austen relaxes later on. For now, he is very nervous. "He pushed open the door, as he had been told to do," Collier writes. This gives the impression that had Austen not been instructed to open the door, he may have just taken the opportunity to turn around and head home. It is clear that Austen is not really sure if he even wants to enter the tiny apartment, let alone do illegal business with the complete stranger inside. Nevertheless, he continues on, as if driven by necessity. Once inside, his attitude begins to change quite rapidly. Though his initial apprehension is evidenced by his stuttering and his incomplete sentences, this quickly evolves into a keen interest, almost an infatuation, with the old man's goods. While he tries to avoid discussion of the poisons ("I want nothing of the sort," he states with an ironic air of finality,) he is consumed with the powers of the love potion.

Nutritional Study Worksheet Essay

Select one of the following topics to research: Coffee or caffeine Eggs Low-fat diets Low-carb diets Other nutrition topic approved by your instructor Research your topic using 2 nutrition articles that discuss your topic, but provide opposing viewpoints. Use the Internet, the University Library, or the search links provided in the Week 2 Electronic Reserve Readings to locate the articles. Write 50- to 200-word responses to each of the following questions based your findings. Use your own words and provide examples to support your answers. 1. What topic did you choose? Discuss the position of each of the two articles you selected. I choose eggs for this assignment. Each artlice talks about different nutritional value of eggs. For example one article focuses on how eggs can affect a persons hunger and in return help them maintain a healthy calorie count which can help them to maintain a healthier weight. The second article focused on how eggs are with cholesterol. 2. What health claims are stated in the articles, such as drinking coffee every day will lower one’s risk for cancer? The first article I read talked about eggs helping you control a hunger. They  claimed that eggs are healthier alternative to control your hunger. They did a study on a group od obese indiviuals who ate eggs with toast and low car jelly, and the second group ate a bagel with cream cheese and nonfat yogurt. Study showed that the group eating eggs was statisfied longer, which in return had them eating less. The second article I read talked about how eggs don’t affect your cholesterol. They had two diferent groups of healthy adults. The first group ate eggs for breakfast and the second group ate oatmeal. The study showed that eggs didn’t affect there cholestreal, it didn’t rise or lower it. 3. Do any of the articles’ claims seem too good to be true? Does it seem that the authors are seeking personal gain in any way? Explain your answers. I don’t think the articles seem to good to be true, they compared to different groups to one another to see if there hypothesis was either supported or not. They didn’t seem one sided, or trying to get personal gain from the statemetns. They were done by different schools, they were tring to better understand eggs, and the health of individuals. 4. What are the respective sources of these articles (testimonials, peer-reviewed study)? Both my articles were study completed by different schools such as Yale, and Saint Louis University. I would trust these sources the articles where put togethere by Science Letter Editors, â€Å"NewsRX†. So they were studies completed by different Universitys, which is how we obtain a great deal on other medical information. 5. Is the information presented in each article new or has it been studied extensively over time, achieving the same results? Both articles did there study over time. The first study about eggs affecting your hunger, they randomly separated the obese indiviuals in the study into two different groups had them eat the different breakfast meals prepared for the study. The study for the eggs affecting cholesterol as well was done  over time, they separated the healthy adults into two groups. They did mention in the article though that they did see the indivuals eating oatmeal had lower cholesterol. 6. Now that you have gone through the details of each article, do you have any reservations about the information in either one? If so, explain why. Has the process of analyzing the two articles changed your opinion on the topic? Explain your answer. I never thought much about eggs filling you more then other foods. I do eat eggs for breakfast I just don’t eat too much because I tend to get tired of them quickly. However I have heard things about how they affect your cholesterol, since I am young I am not concerned about my cholesterol levels. However now reading an article about a study that has been conducted I am informed so I can compare the knowledge I gained from it to other articles I may read in the future. Diet & nutrition; egg nutrition center-cofunded study indicates eggs for breakfast aid weight control. (2006). Science Letter, , 510. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/209128523?accountid=458 Diet & nutrition; study suggests that eggs may not contribute to heart disease in healthy adults. (2005). Science Letter, , 559. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/209238077?accountid=458

Distance Learning: Possible Benefits Essay

Definitions ran course to every form of discourse and writing, so much so that in this case, the word â€Å"distance learning† be defined in the most concise but meaningful way. The fact that it is a recent phenomenon juxtaposes the individual to present its definition in terms of its academic connotation. The things involved in distance learning is but a magnifier of the whole phenomenon, a strategy of focus (which elements are to be given more credence in a specific situation. This is more of a prescription rather than a protocol in composing outlines dealing with recent topics (Tulloch & Sneed). The potential benefits of distance learning from the view of the students should be structured in a way that elements of class discourse are given consideration (Lindsay & Howell). Benefits themselves, are nothing without examining the context to which they were derived. Nonetheless, the range of possibilities is expanded (i. e. in communication, class participation) whenever the situational contingencies are analyzed. Nonetheless, the concept of maximal time utilization should be included in the outline for it provides some â€Å"hint† as to what differentiates distance learning from other modes of teaching (Guide to Distance Learning Programs, 2002). Included here is the examination of intervening factors that can adversely affect the facilitation channel. The benefits of distance learning in terms of communication are but a spectrum of achieving the wide range of possible academic inquiries of students (â€Å"Distance Learning†, 2006). A critical assessment and of course, preparatory training programs should be included in the outline as legitimate subtopics; this is to make the participants (students) know their limitation (in this case, students and teachers fearful of the idea of distance learning) and the things demanded of them. References: Distance Learning. (2006). Retrieved October 16, 2006, from http://cops. uwf. edu/tutorials/technolo/distance/distance. htm Guide to Distance Learning Programs. (2002). ): Thomson Peterson’s. Lindsay, N. K. , & Howell, S. L. The Study of Distance Education by Distance Education. Retrieved October 16, 2006, from http://www. itdl. org/Journal/Sep_04/article03. htm Tulloch, J. , & Sneed, J. (Eds. ). Quality Enhancing Practices in Distance Education: Teaching and Learning (Spring 2000): Instructional Technology Council. Effective Opening in Presentations Here are some ways of preparing an effective presentation: 1) The opening statement should have the element of confidence and positive outlook. 2) The impression of the presenter towards the audience should be positive and decisive. 3) The presenter should be able to capture the attention of the audience by premeditating on possible and appropriate types of gestures to be used 4) Expectations should be set so as to make a good headway. 5) It should be brief; short narratives, jokes, and the like can be enticing so long as it is brief and comprehending to the audience. 6) Speaking with clarity and sense of freedom can well improve the listening ability of the audience. 7) Words should be used in the most appropriate and convenient to the audience. 8) The mode of presentation should be suited to the audience’s characteristics (what presentation the audience wants should have been thought of prior to the presentation). There are examples of an effective opening statement. Take for example a seminar lecture series where the audiences are teacher and students. In this case, the invited speakers (with good credentials) use the academic language (technical words associated to examples) for the audience to understand first the whole theme of the seminar (seminars in the academe are usually technical in every aspect). Gestures should not be the usual day-to-day manners; it should be academic for formality’s sake. In this way, the invited guest will be able to exact the confidence and attention of the audience. Nevertheless, fluency in speaking may awe the audience so much so that in this case, the audiences are intellectuals.

Production Possibilities

Production PossibilitiesProduction possibilities frontier (PPF) or more commonly known as transformation curve is a graph that demonstrates the difference between two goods that an economy with scarce resources could produce. There are two primary determinants that may greatly affect the orientation of the PPF of a nation. These are production functions and factor endowments. There is relatively a very big possibility for the PPF of a nation to shift inward. Instances such as the occurrence of war and technological disturbances that may cause technological growth and development to cease are two of the possible causes of a PPF inward shift. The Principle of Diminishing Marginal Returns can also affect the shift of the PPF of a nation. Other factors such as currency devaluation or technological and political innovation can also shift a nation's PPF inward.Figure 1 shows the inward shift of the PPF curve of a nation that has undergone war. Due to the war, the resources of the nation, w hich are primarily used to produce the food and medicine have been devastated. This devastation of the resources leads to decrease in the rate of technological innovations. Moreover, the war also gave rise to the currency devaluation of the nation. By these, it can be concluded that these instances can increase the possibility of the nation's PPF to shift inward.Given a fixed proportion of resources added with another unit of resource needed by a nation for the production of two goods and the machines needed by the nation in the production, the curve of the production possibility frontier of a nation would shift inward to  the left in time – this is due to the law of diminishing marginal returns. The law states that even though other units of resources are added to the nation's tool for production, the marginal output of the nation would decrement until it reaches negative. And when it reaches the negative value, the PPF curve of that nation would shift inward. Currency dev aluation also affects the inward shift of a nation's PPF curve when some of the nation's resources are being purchased from other nations. The decrease in the value of the nation's currency would affect the amount and the value of the resources purchased. Decline in the rate of innovations could also aid in the inward shift of the PPF curve of the nation since technological innovations may help develop and improve the production process.References:Devadoss, S., Song, W. (2003). Factor Market Oligopsony and the Production   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Possibility Frontier Review of International Economics, 11, 729-  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   744.RetrievedNovember 5, 2007 from SSRN database.Goodwin, N. R. (2007, October 9). Production possibility frontier. Retrieved November 5,   Ã‚   2007 from http://www.eoearth.org/article/Production_possibility_frontier.Parasuraman, N. S. (2002, May 1). Production-Possibility Frontier (PPF) Retrieved   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   November 5, 2007, from http://www.geocities.com/parasu41/PPF/.Suranovic, S. M. (2007). International Trade Theory and Policy [Electronic Version]. Retrieved November 5, 2007, from http://internationalecon.com/Trade/Tch60/T60-  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   7.php.

Ebola Study Essay

DALLAS — The Texas nurse who contracted Ebola while caring for the first person to die of the virus in the U.S. has been identified as 26-year-old Nina Pham. Health officials have not released the nurse’s name, but Yahoo News identified Pham through public records and a state nursing database. Then on Monday, Pham’s family confirmed her identity to local Dallas ABC News affiliate WFAA. Pham, a critical care nurse at Texas Health Presbyterian Dallas, is one of at least 50 people who cared for Thomas Eric Duncan before he passed away last Wednesday. Pham has been in isolation since late Friday. The CDC confirmed her Ebola diagnosis on Sunday. It is the first time the deadly virus has ever been transmitted in the United States. The Dallas resident is a 2010 graduate of Texas Christian University and has been a nurse since June 2010, according to state records. CDC director Dr. Thomas Frieden said Pham is in stable condition at Texas Health Presbyterian. An unidentified person Pham had close contact with last week is also in isolation at the hospital, but Frieden said that individual has not become ill. Investigators have not determined how Pham specifically contracted the disease from Duncan, who died on his 10th day of intensive care at Texas Health Presbyterian. â€Å"If this one individual was infected and we don’t know how — within the isolation unit — then it is possible that other individuals could have been infected as well,† Frieden said during a press conference. â€Å"We consider them to be at risk and we are doing an in-depth review and investigation.† A day earlier, Frieden characterized the transmission from Duncan to Pham as a possible breach in safety protocols. On Monday he apologized for those remarks. â€Å"Some interpreted that as finding fault with the hospital or the health care worker, and I’m sorry if that was the impression given, that was certainly not my intention,† Frieden said. â€Å"What we need to do, is all take responsibility for improving the safety of those on the front lines. I feel awful that a health care worker became infected in the care of an Ebola patient. She was there trying to help the first patient survive.† Tom Ha, a longtime friend of Pham’s family, told the Dallas Morning News that it is in the nurse’s genes to go out of her way to assist others. â€Å"I expect, with the big heart that she has, she went beyond what she was supposed to do to help anyone in need,† Ha told the newspaper

Sociology and Social Constructs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Sociology and Social Constructs - Essay Example Social construct exists because people agree to behave as if it exists, or concur as if to comply with certain conventional rules, or behave as if such accord or rules came into being (Social Constructs 2007). One social construct is individualism. It places the individual as the center of the social structures. For Hofstede, individualism "pertains to societies wherein the ties between individuals are loose, where everyone is expected to look after himself or herself and his or her immediate family (as cited by Allik and Realo.). As opposed to collectivism, which holds that the group (e.g. the nation, the community, the race, etc. is the primary unit of "reality and the ultimate standard of value," individualism points the individual as the principal unit of reality. His individual person, and not a certain group where he belongs in, is its main focus. For Tocqueville, selfishness is "a passionate and exaggerated love of self, leading a man to connect everything with himself and to prefer himself to everything in the world." On the other hand, his concept of individualism is "a mature and calm feeling, which disposes each member of the community to sever himself from the mass of his fellows and to draw apart with his family and his friends, so that after he has thus formed a little circle of his own, he willingly leaves society at large to itself (Democracy in America 1835)." Based from his definition selfishness concerns more on the emotional craving to love one's self, while individualism is more a mature feeling that makes a member of a society to choose it. Another common misconception is individualism's relation with isolation. Isolation means being alone and being outside of the social sphere. Individualism is a sociological concept that puts the individual at the pedestal. It makes individuals as the unit by which a society's achievement is measured. The common misconception about individualism is that the individual is emphasized and it disregards other members in the society. While it is true that individuals are given emphasis on this social construct, individualism only empowers the members of the society to freely choose what they prefer doing. This social construct should be viewed from the perspective of society wherein individuals are given the freedom to choose what they want in life. Individuals are responsible for himself and society's role is very minimal (Individualism 2007). Individualism and Collectivism After clarifying individualism from the common misconceptions about it, let us further illuminate this confusing term by differentiating it from its contradictory term - collectivism. As mentioned above, individualism puts individual members of the group as the unit by which the success or achievement of a group is based on. Collectivism, on the other hand views a social group as the basis. When an individualist, for example, comments on a crime the fault solely rests in the hands of the individual. The social group wherein he is part of is minimal. This makes individuals responsible for their actions. Collectivism stresses that the society is

Coaching and Development Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Coaching and Development Plan - Essay Example It reaches into very personal and delicate matters. In many cases, the superior has to play he role both of coach and counselor. d. The new responses to be learnt should not be in conflict with old responses. If they do, the coaching should provide an opportunity for the olds responses to be unlearnt before the new responses are learnt Coaching and development is an organized procedure for increasing the knowledge and skill for people for a definite purpose. The purpose of coaching is to achieve a change in the behavioral of those being coached. aptitudes, skills and knowledge. It helps the newly recruited employees to be productive in minimum amount of time. Even for the experienced workers, it is necessary to refresh and enable them to keep up with new methods, techniques, new machines, and equipments for doing the work. 5. Evaluating the outcomes of coaching with a scientifically designed evaluation scheme. The evaluation programme should involve observation of trainee’s back on the job for some period of time after training and should also determine whether changes observed are attributable to coaching efforts. In any coaching process, after a certain level of proficiency, a span of time arrives in which no improvement takes place in the trainee. This period is later on followed by the increase in skill if the he situation is handled intelligently. The period during which very little or no improvement takes places is known as ‘plateau’. The plateau in the coaching and learning curve can be eliminated by improved method of coaching and instructions. This curve shows that when coaching is given to a trainee he first begins to lean a new style; he is likely to find himself unusually clumsy. During the early stage, the learners need the coaching’s encouragement. The duration of the first stage, will depend upon the complexity and newness of the skill being learnt. After this

Death and Dying paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Death and Dying paper - Essay Example One evening while watching a television interview â€Å"Nightline†, Mitch comes to realize the existence of his once favorite lecturer who happens to be the interviewee. It is from this point that Mitch, who stays in Michigan, contacts Morrie, who stays in Massachusetts and promises to pay him a visit. Right from their first meeting after a long period, Morrie and Mitch found an opportunity to talk much about life. It is during this discussion when Mitch realizes that Morrie had forfeited his favorite hobby, dancing, after contacting ALS. From this point, Mitch is seen as coming to learn more about his life. Mitch notices that maybe he has placed his priorities in the wrong order. Mitch eventually regrets a lot for his failure to contact Morrie for all that period of time. in addition, Mitch is hit hard with the fact that he will not be able to have Morrie around his life now- Morrie will die of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Mitch then promises to pay Morrie a visit every Tuesday to learn more about life, hence the title, Tuesdays with Morrie (Albom, 2010). Based on the activities around the main characters, a reader can easily grasp a lot from the novel Tuesdays with Morrie. Primarily, the main theme pursued by the author is socialization. That is, how social contacts influence people’s lives. In addition, many readers understand how careers and shortcomings in life, such as diseases (in this case cancer and ALS) may deteriorate relationships between people. The writer uses the main characters Mitch and Morrie to convey his message to the readers. ALS is a neurological disease, which affects the brain and the spinal cord by killing neurons and eventually damaging the functionality of the brain. The ALS is a killer disease that at its advanced stages leads to the death of the patient. A lot of discussions and research works have been carried out in trying to understand better

How the Compliance with International Environmental Law Can be Made Essay

How the Compliance with International Environmental Law Can be Made More Effective and Enhanced - Essay Example Critical Appraisal of Mechanism for Implementation and Enforcement 18 5.1 Impact Assessment (EIAs and SEAs) 19 5.2 Special conditions for EPI in ODA 20 5.3 Public participation, transparency and accountability 21 5.4 Fragmentation of the normative aspect of the international governance system 23 5.5 Issues and implementation surrounding environmental law in Europe 23 6. Conclusions 24 6.1 No definite system or body of laws 24 6.2 No authority to legislate or enforce laws 25 6.3 Existence of operational mechanisms to support environmental policies 26 Bibliography 28 Appendix A: Comprehensive List of International Agreements 30 Appendix B: List of Major International Environmental and Natural Resources Law 33 Appendix C: Our Common Future, Annexe 1: Summary of Proposed Legal Principles For Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development Adopted by WCED Experts Group on Environmental Law 36 Appendix D: Organizations Related to Environmental & Natural Resources Law 41 1. ... Within the scope of national law, there is no problem that the duty to protect and preserve the environment is palpable and the authority to enforce it unquestionable. However, in the sphere of international law, a matter as crucial as maintaining the ability of the environment to sustain life for generations to come apparently meets with a well-meaning but inadequate response. Proposals to arm international environmental law with more teeth have been forwarded for almost half a century, and yet the more adamant environmentalists are dissatisfied that the results have been lackluster at best. It is against this background that this paper discusses how compliance with International Environmental Law can be enhanced and made more effective, within the purview of established legal principle. It shall examine the scope and extent of international environmental laws and regulations, how these are originated and organized, and the organizations charged with their implementation and enforce ment. Discussion shall thereafter proceed to how the laws are applied, the instruments by which they are enforced, what inadequacies exist in this implementation, and how to address such shortcomings with a view towards improvement. 2. International Environmental Laws & Regulations â€Å"Environmental Law is a complex body of law made up of global, international, national, state and local statutes, treaties, conventions, regulations and policies which seek to protect the environment and natural resources affected, impacted or endangered by human activities.†1 The predominant legal method for addressing legal problems that go beyond national boundaries is through the promulgation of international environmental agreements.2 For the greater part,

Politics and Economy of the Contemporary Middle East Essay

Politics and Economy of the Contemporary Middle East - Essay Example The main question is whether the uprisings were effective in meeting their goals. The people were not aware that after the revolution they would have to rebuild their countries. The revolution was experienced differently across different countries and the effects were felt across the region due to the destabilisation of trade and political sphere. The revolution that started in Egypt and Tunisia was unexpected and many were caught unawareness because of the number of people that came out to support the calls for change in the countries. This triggered a wave of pro-democracy protests across the region, with many achieving their goals. Essentially, the two countries had similar problems facing them mainly social-economic grievances and political objectives (Beinin & Vairel 2011:150). They knew that the only way of attaining their freedom was by changing the political class and instituting change starting from the highest office in the country. The major problem especially amongst the Tunisians and Egyptians was not that the economy was falling, their living standards were. The poor were experiencing harder economic times and the richer were enjoying the spoils without caring about those at the bottom (Anantram, Chase-Dunn & Reese 2010:605). A combination of high inflation rates, decreasing wages and high unemployment amongst t he middle and poor classes was disturbing. The people wanted changes but the government was not listening to the people. The leaders were buys looking the other side instead of creating platforms to improve the lives of their people. The demographic growths were also a point of concern because the jobs created were for the low-skilled and low-wage earners, yet the number was stagnant despite an increase in the population. Political oppression and repression was another cause of the revolution. Many of the basic

Response to Coments on DQ1 Hunt and DQ2 SmithW11 Essay

Response to Coments on DQ1 Hunt and DQ2 SmithW11 - Essay Example Another great attribute about learning about accounting is that that knowledge can be used to improve a person’s ability to analyze investment opportunities. By analyzing the four basic financial statements a person can perform a good assessment of whether a company is doing well or not. DQ2 I want to congratulate you on your career aspirations of pursuing an MBA to become a manager in the hospitality industry. The use of accounting is very important to effectively run a hotel operation. Accounting can help the manager determine what are the fixed and variable costs of the operation. Based on that information the manager can determine the needed occupancy rate for the hotel to exceed the breakeven point in order to make a financial profit. Having knowledge about GAAP is very important and has lot of practical uses. A few years my brother who is an accountant learned about an accounting change that drastically affected the financial results of some companies including VTSS. Due to the accounting change the value of the stock went up for $0.35 to over $4 in less than 6 months. Accounting knowledge is very useful to make investment decisions. References Luc.edu. Accounting Trivia. Retrieved June 14, 2011 from http://www.luc.edu/sba/accounting_trivia.shtml

President George Washington's Childhood Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

President George Washington's Childhood - Essay Example These critical years laid a foundation for the greater tasks that awaited him later. George Washington’s father, Augustine Washington, had high ambitions. He owned slaves, land, practiced tobacco farming, built mills and dealt with iron mines. He married George Washington’s mother, Mary Ball in 1731 after the death of his first wife, Jane Butler in 1729 who had left behind three children. George Washington was the first born of the six children born by Mary Ball. Their family was prosperous, and among the top middle class of Virginia (Freeman, Alexander & Ashworth, 2007). George Washington spent most of his youth on Ferry Farm on the Rappahannock River, Virginia. Little is known about his childhood. However, a widely held notion is that George Washington was home schooled between the ages five and fifteen, and attended sexton classes at a nearby church. Career wise, George Washington first worked as a teacher of Math, Geography, English, and Latin classics. This was important as it prepared him for future leadership roles. His interaction with supervisors in plantations and backwoodsmen made him more knowledgeable. He had learnt surveying, tobacco growing and stock rising by the time he was a teenager. At the age of eleven, he lost his father and so lived with Lawrence, his half-brother, who brought him up in a commendable way. Here, he received schooling in the colonial culture under the directions of Lawrence’s wife, Anne Fairfax. At the age of sixteen, George was part of a surveying group that plotted land in the Western territory of Virginia. In 1749, Lord Fairfax appointed George, to be the official surveyor of Culpeper, Augusta, and Frederick Counties. The two years’ experience as a surveyor made George a strong and resourceful man, both physically and psychologically. This also enhanced his interest in land buying, which prevailed for the rest of his life, as he bought large pieces of land and

Barriers to communication Essay Example for Free

Barriers to communication Essay 1.3 Identify barriers to effective communication A child, young person, their parent(s)/carer(s) or even a member of staff whose first language is foreign may make it harder for any communication spoken to them to be understood. They may only understand very small words of the language you’re speaking, so information will be harder to put across. For example; in my setting, there is a child who can understand what you are saying, but it seems, most of the time they seem very quiet. This may be due to their parent(s) being from a foreign country, so they may be able to communicate in their parent(s) language, but not in ours so may find it hard to communicate some of their needs/feelings. Someone may have a sensory deprivation – such as hearing or sight. This will make giving and receiving information harder to do – they may need an interpreter at all times for example. When talking to a service provider, they may use technical language that the service user may not understand which will make it harder for them to process the information and may worry what they have meant. Someone may be going through a difficult time that is making their emotions go all over the place – such as they may take things the wrong way, get upset easily, no full concentration and not trying as hard to complete/do things. Environmental/setting problems can cause a barrier for a communication – someone who may not be able to see very well will find it hard to read any written information in a dimly lit room. Or, for example, someone in a wheelchair can find it hard to communicate with someone if they are at a desk that is above the wheelchair users head.

How Do the Sacred Texts and Beliefs of Islam or Christianity Essay Example for Free

How Do the Sacred Texts and Beliefs of Islam or Christianity Essay How do the Sacred Texts and beliefs of Islam OR Christianity, inform a Religion that is relevant to contemporary adherents? In todays society, unlike many years ago religion is not seen as an important part of peoples lives. People are way to busy or so they think to be ‘wasting their time’ with religion, and church. But for those who do believe in a religion, especially those from the Islamic religion, they take part in a religion that was formed hundreds of years ago, still using and believing in the same scared texts and beliefs. Islamic environmental ethics are drawn from the 3 underpinning principle beliefs, that are the 3 central concepts of Islam and the pillars of Islamic environmental ethics. Tawhid a belief brought upon many many years ago, is the belief of Unity. It believes in the Unity and oneness of all created by Allah and that unity is reflected in the created world, thus the Tawhid demands that the integrity of the created world be maintained by balance and harmony. â€Å"The whole earth has been created a place of worship, pure and clean. Hadith The Khalifa, belief in Stewardship, is the belief that Allah has made humans responsible for all creation and with this involves appropriate use of resources for human needs. â€Å"It is He that has made you custodians; inheritors of the earth. † (Qur’an Surah 6:165) Akrah is the belief of accountability, Muslims believe that they will be judged on how they have acted, and ones treatment of gods created world. The sources of ethical tea chings, and the relationship between humans and the universe is outlined in the Qur’an, Hadith and Shari’a. It is defined in Qur’an as based on meditation of the universe and what it contains, sustainable utilization and development for human benefit, care and nurture extended beyond humans to the benefit of created beings. The Hajj is an obligation which fulfils one of the five pillars of Islam required of a Muslim at least once in a lifetime for those financially and physically able â€Å"those who can make their way there†. It is a faithful submission to the will of Allah. And pilgrimage to the House is incumbent upon men for the sake of Allah† – Surah 3:96. Before embarking on this miraculous journey, pilgrims must redress all wrongs, organise funds for the journey and the family being left behind, and prepare themselves for good conduct during the Hajj. The Journey then goes for 5 full days, starting officially on the 8th day of Dhul-Hijjah. After completing the Hajj with all rites performed, pilgrims have earned the right to be called al-Hajj or al-Hajji. The Hajj expresses the beliefs of Islam through commemorating important religious events. These include Abraham and his son Ishmael built the Ka’ba, and established the rituals of the Hajj to reflect his life, Muhammad’s last sermon on Arafat, Jamra symbolises Abraham throwing stones at Satan who tried to dissuade him from sacrificing Isaac, and Nahr reflects Allah replacing Isaac with a sacrificial lamb. The Hajj reinforces fundamental islamic concepts with the Five Pillars of Faith. Shahada, the declaration of faith that there is no god but Allah and Muhammed is the messenger of Allah is expressed through the Hajj by Talbiya (a prayer that states the pilgrimage is only for the glory of Allah) and through Mount Arafat (the place of Muhammads last sermon, where all are closest to Allah) Salat, the 5 daily prayers is expressed through the Hajj as the Hajj is a period where pilgrims are directly communicating with Allah and Muslims are in actual proximity of the Ka’ba. Zakat, Almsgiving is shown through the Hajj as the meat sacrificed or money given for nahr is distributed amongst family, friends and the poor, it also shows the obligation of the wealthy to the poor and Ihram, which means that money and status are not a factor for pilgrims and that all are equal. Sawm, fasting is expressed through the Hajj as it is a time of prayer, meditation and asking for forgiveness, as well as the Sa’y as it re-enacts Hajar’s search for food; empathy for hunger. Al-Akhira is believed to be the world to come, Muslims believe in an afterlife where they will be held accountable for their lives (Akhra), they believe that by participating in the Hajj there is a greater prospect of reward in the afterlife. The Hajj is not only significant to the individual but also to the community. The Hajj is significant to the individual as the Hajj is an opportunity for Muslims to experience spiritual rebirth and develop a sense of consciousness in Allah. It is also opportunity to reassess and confirm their Islamic beliefs. The Hajj provides opportunity for the pilgrim to improve their spirituality through worship, hardship and salat. It focuses the individual on jihad; sacrificing time, skills, money and struggling against external evils. Enables the pilgrim’s renewal through cleansing from sin. â€Å"whoever performs the Hajj will come home like a newborn†. The Hajj reinforces Allah’s mercy and compassion as it exceeds His anger by forgiving the sins of the sinful creation by declaring an absolute pardon for every pilgrim upon completion of the accepted rituals of Hajj. The individual strengthens their relationship with Allah and gains a greater understanding of Islamic history and has a better prospect of reward in the afterlife. The Hajj is significant to the community as the Hajj is a sign of unity, equality and a sense of pride in the global umma as they pray together and are equal in the ihram garments. It brings together Muslims of all races to from a fellowship for such a significant practice in the Islamic faith, and the hajj acts as a universal reminder of the blessing of Allah on humanity of our diversity and the brotherhood to worship the one Allah. As the Hajj and Environmental ethics apply themselves with todays contemporary society, the beliefs and sacred texts are used to form ideas of how to look after the environment and why it is necessary to participate in the Hajj.

Elements Of Autobiography In Martin Eden By Jack London

Elements Of Autobiography In Martin Eden By Jack London In Londons literary ingenuity, Mark Eden is staged in such a way that it is widely considered a living autobiography for Jack London himself from the resemblance of the various themes and postulates in the book with the authors own perspectives during his life; in fact, so close to Londons perspectives in life are the issues discussed in the book that even the tragic end of Mark Eden taking his own life has been justifiably been surmised to be a foreshadow Jack Londons own death. The Elements of autobiography in Martin Eden by Jack London Martin Eden is a 1909 novel by a once renowned American author who was called Jack London that details a story of a young man that struggles for recognition among the literary elite of his time. In his life and times, social stereotypes and cultural biases abhor interactions between the poor and the bourgeoning rich class which forms one of the struggles that young Martin fights especially considering that he is in love with Roth Morse; a young bourgeois woman from a well off family. This work is a novel creation of superb work of a real literary craftsman which addresses the normal issues of young struggling writers explaining the challenges that they face daily with the publishing of their work. In Londons literary ingenuity, Mark Eden is staged in such a way that it is widely considered a living autobiography for Jack London himself from the resemblance of the various themes and postulates in the book with the authors own perspectives during his life; in fact, so close to Londons perspectives in life are the issues discussed in the book that even the tragic end of Mark Eden taking his own life has been justifiably been surmised to be a foreshadow Jack Londons own death. This essay looks at the book, Mark Eden, with the view of explaining the plot of the book in an attempt of determining how the authors life is reflected in the book. The essay also looks at the various themes discussed in the book and compares them with the ideological views that the author held in his lifetime. In addition to this, the essay also sets out to determine whether there is anything autobiographical about the book in reference to its authors life. These aims will be attained by drawing quotes and inferences from the book to justify postulates and authenticate presuppositions made in this regard. Further corroborative remarks will also be used from different authorities and literature about the same topic to reinforce the credibility of the findings and conclusions herein. This book is a pet favourite among upcoming writers who have faced the reality of the hardship that surrounds publishing their literary works of art. It is a story of a young and courageous Martin Eden who through his determination struggles through self-education in the early 20th century to edge a living for himself and subsequently achieve a footing at the helm of the literary elite of the time. As the story unfolds, it becomes clear thatEdens impetus towards hard work and desire of edging a name for himself among the societal elite is Ruth Morses love. Social stereotypes and societal norms fragrantly denyEden any chance of enjoying a union with Ruth since they are from two different social classes:Eden is from the lower working class of sailors while Ruth is from the higher bourgeois class. For Eden to move himself slightly towards attainment of any of his dreams of happily living with Ruth and earning an honourable living therefore, he must establish himself as a writer which is his life-long dream hence the passionate attempts at having his work published. This is the first place that Martin Eden closely reflects the life of Jack London. The skepticism with which Martin Eden views the publishing houses and publishers is the same cynicism thatLondon viewed publishers with during his formative years as a struggling writer. In effect, there is probably no better way of fully capturing the defiant cynicism thatLondon had in this regard than usingEdens own words: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦he [Eden] speculated that there was no human being in form of an editor to receive his manuscripts when he sent them but rather there was a an smart arrangement of cogs which automatically changed any manuscripts they received from this envelope to another attaching stamps to them then returning them to the sender(s) with a kindly written rejection slip (Berman 67). Edens wars continue but as is the case with all non-quitters, his day of laughter dawns but unfortunately it comes too late soon after his life-long love, Ruth Morse has given up on waiting for him to hit the right button of prosperity. In her impatience, she retorts in frustration to Edenthat à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦had you only settled down in life and attempted to make something for yourself in lifeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ I would have had reason to hope for the maturity of my love for you (Berman 38). There are authorities who have surmised quite justifiably that the character of Ruth Morse is modeled on Jack Londons first love, Mabel Applegarth who continually rejected Londonfor his apparent failure in life as a young writer (Campbell 145). In this regard also therefore, there is a direct inference from Londons life that is closely associated with Martin Eden making the argument that the book has autobiographical inclinations as plausible as it is justifiable. This notwithstanding, there are substantial differences in the story that do not rhyme at all withLondons convictions during his time. Such an example is the issue of socialism versus individualism as portrayed in the book. From the book,Edenrejects socialism repugnantly considering it slavery and instead hails individualism based on Nietzschean ideology. On the other hand, London is on record to have written to Upton Sinclair discrediting individualism and in his correspondence is quoted to have said that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦one of my greatest motifs in the book was to ingeniously attack individualism which I reckon I miserably bungled since not even one single reviewer of this book has ever discovered that (London 23). The book ends tragically inEdentaking his own life by drowning himself in water. This came at his best moments when he had attained recognition and his writing had been widely acclaimed which would have implied that he should have gotten the highest satisfaction given that such success is what he craved for in life. As it downed on him, societal gears just swung the other way when he had reached what he had all along considered the zenith of his literary acumen since it downed on him that not even his immense success as a writer would earn him the societal acceptance among the nobility and upper social class. There was always an aurora of discontent and despise from his contemporary artists from the higher social class, something that madly piquedEdenoff. It is this continued disrespect that eventually lured him into taking his own life (London58). In a word, events surrounding Jack Londons death have been closely associated with suicide after Edens manner thereby making the book obnoxiously futuristic pointing to the authors own death (London69). At the age of 33 when London had already attained fame and international acclaim with his previous work of literature (such as White Fang and The Call of the Wild), he quickly got bored with the bourgeoning fame and set out to sail throughout the entire of the Southern Pacific. It was on this voyage that London wrote the book, Martin Eden when he was struggling with lifes frustrations and some bowel illness to which he is thought to have succumbed. In the book,London reiterated his adolescent gangfights, artistic recognition, frustrations and romantic struggles that characterized his humble life. In summary, Martin Eden is a book that is widely considered an autobiography forLondongiven the many futuristic antidotes that it hints which are directly linkable to Jack Londons life. The many struggles in the book inEdens youth hood have direct resemblance with the many struggles thatLondonfought against in his own youth hood further making the book widely autobiographical. Inasmuch as there are some minor differences in the ideological statements made in the book and Londons own perceptions (such as individualism and socialism), it is commonplace for literary forms and therefore does not overtly cloud the pontification of the book as a being autobiographical in nature. It is in this view that Martin Eden is favoured herein as being autobiographical in its entirety. References Berman, P. Introduction to Martin Eden: xv.New York: Random House, 2002. London, Joan. Jack London and His times: An Unconventional Biography.New York: Doubleday. Doran, 1939 p.23 Campbell, Reesman. Prospects for the Study of Jack London Resources for American Literary Study. @Sunsite.Berkeley. Edu, 2001, 145. London, Jack. Martin Eden [M].Beijing Foreign Language Teaching Research Press, 1992.

A Price Above Rubies :: essays research papers

" I’m going to question whatever I like", " I’m going to choose whatever side I want and if God happens to be on the other side then so be it." I believe these two quotes capture the essence of the film " A Price Above Rubies". The main character, Sonia Horowitz, a Hasidic Jew, embarked on a journey in which she sought to find herself through questioning her faith and the strict Jewish life.In doing so, she paid a heavy price. This, I believe, to be the message of the film. The movie starts off with a close up of a ring being crafted, incomplete. Then we see sonia’s brother, Yossi, telling her the story of the woman who broke free of the Jewish community. The woman’s father wanted her to marry a great scholar and lead a good spiritual life. After leaving, she wanders back years later, with child. The community shuns the child, and when she dies, heaven rejects her, so she goes to hell, but the devil cannot bear to see her suffer anymore because he recognizes her as his niece, so she wanders the earth for eternity. The woman is the daughter of a demon. Sonia tells Yossi - " I love you more than anything", when Yossi asks her if she loves him more than God. Yossi tells her she is a sinner and will end up just like the woman in the story, wandering the earth for eternity, like Cain. Yossi then gives her a fake ruby, which she immediately recognizes and rejects. Perhaps the jewel symbolizes her soul, what makes her complete, and she won’t accept a fraud, something in place of the real thing, even at that young age. The film goes forward a number of years, to when Sonia and her husband Mendel have just had their first child. Mendel is the perfect example of the devout Hasidic Jew. He is a scholar, and respected by everyone in the community. The Hasidic Jews believe that wisdom, not folly, and the studying of God’s word, knowledge, is the way to happiness and to God. " Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding, for she is more profitable than silver, yields better return than gold. She is more precious than rubies. " Proverbs 3:13-15. They also believe that to fear God is the way to wisdom and understanding and a better spiritual life.

Essay --

​Throughout history there have been several radical events which have ultimately affected large groups of the human population, if not the world in its entirety. The events of World War II are without question a part of that list of radical events. Lasting approximately six years, this global war went from unprovoked acts of military invasion, to acts of mass genocide, to utilization of suicide bombers, and even the first appearance and use of atomic weapons. While it’s not hard to understand why the events in this war, or really any war or large scale battle, can be considered radical in nature, it is also not uncommon to also question whether certain actions were or were not ethical [1]. For instance, it has often been questioned whether the United States’ decision to drop two nuclear bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was ethical or not. While many people may struggle with the realization of the aftermath of these events, to me the answer i s quite clear. The United States' utilization of nuclear weapons against Japan during WWII was neither necessary nor ethical. ​Before any rational discussion or analysis on the topic can be formally begun, I believe it is of relative importance to clarify exactly what is meant by the word â€Å"ethical.† Ethics can roughly be defined as the moral principles and standards that govern people’s, or groups of people’s, behavior, thoughts and general way of thinking. This means that when one deems an event or action as ethical or unethical one is not simply deciding if said event was right or wrong [1]. Ethical labeling implies that one has taken the general mindset of the society in which they consider themselves a part of as well as their own personal feelings, thoughts and opini... ...us that while the U.S. did not intend to formally enter the conflicts of the time, it was the actions taken by the Japanese that caused us to declare war. History also tells us that the Japanese didn't stand a chance against the U.S. and it's coordinated efforts with allies. The fact still remains that the Second World War was ended with the utilization of nuclear weapons against two Japanese cities. Asking if the attacks were necessary, majority of what is now known says no. Asking if the attacks were right or wrong, the simple fact is I believe it was wrong for the U.S. to implement that kind of attack on populations that were primarily composed of noncombatant civilians. Between one, let alone two, atomic weapons not being necessary and it being obvious how inhumane and wrong the attacks were, there is no question in my mind that the events simply weren't ethical!

Exploring Identity and Time in Here, An Arundel Tomb and The Whitsun Weddings :: An Arundel Tomb

Exploring Identity and Time in Here, An Arundel Tomb and The Whitsun Weddings  Ã‚  Ã‚   Larkin has been criticized over the years for the moroseness of his poems, the blackened description of everyday life that some people say lacks depth, however, unlike many other poets, Larkin does not always write the truth or the depth of his feelings. In many there is a voice, trying to convince its author of something that is usually quite evident or exploring itself but revealing only the surface. Why he is trying to convince himself and what are is true feelings present the real challenge and profundity of Larkin poems. The search for one's identity, combined for everybody in one's unique fantasies and realities is a recurrent theme in his poems. As is time, the passing of it, the transformation it engenders and the damage it inflicts. In "Here", identity or the search for one's identity is the main theme. The search is symbolized by the journey taken by Larkin, which takes him through the countryside before Hull, through Hull and finally into the countryside and the beach outside Hull. He finds his identity in the countryside outside Hull, however, he knows that although it is here that he yearns for, it is not his true self, it is his fantasy, the "Here" he would like to live in but that is nevertheless "out of reach". His real identity can be found in Hull with the people and city he so despises. His journey starts in the farm lands before Hull, he does not stop his car, he swerves passed everything as he knows it is not what he is searching for and the slowness of the life he describes here is used in contrast to the imagined speed of the author's swerving vehicle on the motorway. His next stop, his arrival in Hull marks an abrupt change in scenery ("the surprise of a large town") and the driver stops his car, Larkin uses the word "Here" here for the first time so that we assume he has at last found something, a part of his identity. What he sees, described in the next two paragraphs is a city he despises, a city of people whom he feels are below him, yet he knows it and them extremely. He knows about the contrast between its "domes and statues" and "grain scattered streets", as he knows the people there, he describes their movements as "stealing" suggesting stealth and sleaze as they move towards the supermarkets, swinging doors to their "desires", emphasizing that the desires are theirs.

Summary of Reconfigurable Antennas for Wireless and Space Applications

Satellite and Mobile Communication Course Course Number: 361-2-5931 Lecturer: Professor Arnon Shlomi Article Summary Assignment â€Å"Reconfigurable Antennas for Wireless and Space Applications† By Christos G. Christodoulou, Fellow IEEE, Youssef Tawk, Steven A. Lane, and Scott R. Erwin, Senior Member IEEE Proceedings of the IEEE 100, no. 7 (2012): 2250-2261 Assignment by: 1. Introduction A reconfigurable antenna (RCA) is an antenna that is able to be formed, or bent. From this definition one can deduce the significance of such antenna to wireless communication. RCA will allow adaptation, additional functionality and more versatility.Therefore, RCAs, with the ability to radiate more than one pattern at different frequencies and polarizations, are necessary in modern telecommunication systems. The article discusses the different reconfigurable components that can be used in an antenna to modify its structure and function. These reconfiguration techniques are either based on the integration of radio-frequency micro-electromechanical systems (RF-MEMS), PIN diodes, varactors, photoconductive elements, or on the physical alteration of the antenna radiating structure, or on the use of smart materials such as ferrites and liquid crystals.All of the above techniques redistribute the antenna currents and thus alter the electromagnetic fields of the antenna’s effective aperture. Therefore, enabling the antenna to enhance its bandwidth, change it operating frequency, polarization, and radiation pattern. 2. Reconfiguring Techniques Six major types of reconfiguration techniques are used to implement reconfigurable antennas, as indicated in Fig. 1. Here I shell focus on two, electrical and optical RCAs. RCAs can be classified into four different categories. a) frequency RCA; (b) radiation pattern RCA, for this category, the antenna radiation pattern changes in terms of shape, direction, or gain; (c) polarization RCA; and (d) combination of the previous categorie s. There are several advantages in using reconfigurable antennas. (a) Ability to support more than one wireless standard. Hence, it minimizes cost and volume requirements, simplifies integration and offers good isolation between different wireless standards; (b) lower front-end processing.Therefore, there is no need for front-end filtering and there is a good out-of-band rejection; (c) best candidate for software-defined radio. Thus, has the capability to adapt and learn and can be automated via a microcontroller or a field programmable gate array (FPGA); and (d) multifunctional capabilities. Consequently, can change functionality as the mission changes, can act as a single element or as an array and can provide narrow- or wide-band operation. However, there are disadvantages for adding tunability to the antenna behavior. a) the design of the biasing network for activation/deactivation of the switching elements which add complexity to the antenna structure; (b) increase in the requi red power consumption due to the incorporation of active components which augments the system cost; (c) generation of harmonics and inter modulation products; and (d) need for fast tuning in the antenna radiation characteristics to assure a correct functioning of the system. Figure 1: Techniques to achieve RCAs 2. 1.Electrically RCAs The ease of integration of such switching elements into the antenna structure has attracted antenna researchers to this type of RCAs despite the numerous issues surrounding such reconfiguration techniques. These issues include the nonlinearity effects of switches, and the interference, losses, and negative effect of the biasing lines used to control the state of the switching components on the antenna radiation pattern. RF-MEMS: The antenna shown in Fig. 2 is a reconfigurable rectangular spiral antenna with a set of RF-MEMs switches, which are monolithically integrated and packaged onto the same substrate.The antenna is printed on a PCB substrate and fe d through a coaxial cable at its center point. The structure consists of five sections that are connected with four RF-MEMS switches. The spiral arm is increased by discrete steps as integer multiplications of the length of the first segment of the rectangular spiral. It is increased following the right-hand direction to provide right-hand circular polarization for the radiated field. The location of switches is determined such that the axial ratio and gain of the antenna are optimum at the frequency of interest.Based on the status of the integrated RF-MEMS, the antenna can change its radiation beam direction [2]. Figure 2: (Left) a radiation pattern RCA. (Right) fabricated prototype with the biasing line 2. 2. Optically RCAs An optical switch is formed when laser light is incident on a semiconductor material. This results in exciting electrons from the valence to the conduction band and thus creating a conductive connection. The linear behavior of optical switches, in addition to t he absence of biasing lines, compensates for their lossy aspect and the need for laser light to activate them.Integrated Laser Diode: Optically RCAs can be implemented by integrating laser diodes directly into the antenna substrate. A copper piece is attached to the back of the antenna ground, as shown in Fig. 3. This piece has a minimal effect on the antenna radiation pattern since it has a small depth and a smaller width and height as the antenna ground plane. The laser diodes are activated via a current driver to generate the required output optical power. An example of this type of reconfigurable antenna is shown in Fig. 3a. The antenna top layer is the radiating patch while the bottom layer represents the antenna ground plane.Two silicon switches (S1 and S2) are included to allow the antenna to tune its resonant frequency. To activate the silicon switches, laser diodes are integrated within the antenna substrate by attaching a small copper piece to the ground of the antenna, as shown in Fig. 3b. Two holes are drilled throughout the substrate in order to allow the light from the laser diode to be delivered to the silicon switches. These copper pieces are also used as a heat sink for the laser diodes [3]. Figure 3: (a) optically RCA. (b) Laser diode integration with copper fixture, back layer. (c) Prototype, to layer . 3. Smart Materials RCAs Antennas are also made reconfigurable through a change in the substrate characteristics by using materials such as liquid crystals or ferrites. The change in the material is achieved by a change in the relative electric permittivity or magnetic permeability. In fact, a liquid crystal is a nonlinear material whose dielectric constant can be changed under different voltage levels, by altering the orientation of the liquid crystal molecules. As for a ferrite material, a static applied electric/magnetic field can change the relative material permittivity/permeability. . Satellite Applications The need for dynamic space app lications has led to the realization of RCAs for satellite communication. In such systems, it is necessary to reconfigure the antenna radiation pattern to serve a new coverage zone, limit fading in rainy areas, and maintain high data rate at all possible frequency bands of operation. E. g. an antenna structure for satellite applications generates an elliptical beam ranging from 10. 95 to 14. 5 GHz using an 85-cm aperture. Using a rotational and zooming mechanism, the antenna can tune its radiated beam from a â€Å"small ellipse† of 2. 3 °X3.  ° to a â€Å"large ellipse† of 6 °X9 ° [4]. Reconfiguration in space has also been achieved through the use of deployable antennas. These antennas change their shape from compact, small structures to large blooming antennas in space. The objectives are to realize high gain and high directivity, which are primarily determined by the size of an antenna aperture. The antenna itself can be reconfigurable to cover several frequ ency bands as the mission of the satellite changes. 4. Summary Reconfigurable antennas were divided into electrically, optically, physically, and smart-material-based tunable structures.Christodoulou et-al expect future smart reconfigurable antennas to be completely multifunctional and software controlled with machine learning capabilities that can detect changes in their RF environment and react accordingly. Moreover, the merging of deployable and reconfigurable antennas will open new frontiers in the design of antennas for space communications. 5. References 1. Christodoulou, Christos G. , Youssef Tawk, Steven A. Lane, and Scott R. Erwin. â€Å"Reconfigurable Antennas for Wireless and Space Applications. † Proceedings of the IEEE 100, no. 7 (2012): 2250-2261. 2. won Jung, Chang, Ming-jer Lee, G. P.Li, and Franco De Flaviis. â€Å"Reconfigurable scan-beam single-arm spiral antenna integrated with RF-MEMS switches. † Antennas and Propagation, IEEE Transactions on 54, n o. 2 (2006): 455-463. 3. Tawk, Y. , J. Costantine, S. E. Barbin, and C. G. Christodoulou. â€Å"Integrating laser diodes in a reconfigurable antenna system. † In Microwave & Optoelectronics Conference (IMOC), 2011 SBMO/IEEE MTT-S International, pp. 794-796. IEEE, 2011. 4. Roederer, Antoine G. â€Å"Antennas for Space: Some Recent European Developments and Trends. † In Applied Electromagnetics and Communications, 2005. ICECom 2005. 18th International Conference on, pp. 1-8. IEEE, 2005.