Poverty Case Essay

â€Å"The most terrible poverty is loneliness, and the feeling of being unloved.† ― Mother Teresa It’s frightening to think how those who live under poverty in our country would seem so powerless when in reality are just as powerful. Poverty has the power to disable people from seeing the sun on bright days, while it can enable them to think about the gloomiest ones, desperately resorting to unwanted ways to get what they need. They are equipped with a valid reason for committing crimes and immoral acts, rooting back to poverty, just exactly something we find hard to give solution to. It is hard to embrace them fully, but is harder to condemn them for feeling so hopeless about their situations. Hopelessness is what fuels these people and it’s a sad reality that the society cannot help but let them do the driving – their own dirty way. Loneliness is another type of poverty, as mentioned by Mother Teresa, and even claimed it as the most terrible of all poverties present. Sadly, such was what the three major characters in the stories Cat in the Rain, Miss Brill, and A Rose for Emily, experienced. The traits they had in common rooted back to loneliness, being the reason why they thought they had to do unique, and at a point, questionable ways to be accepted and loved in return. The story Cat in the Rain by Ernest Hemingway focused on the character of an American woman who tries hard to get her husband’s attention by saving a kitten from the rain. As the story develops, it is noticeable that there’s a slight tension between the American couple as emphasized by the husband’s cold treatment to his wife. The wife, in return, recites her desire for things she knows she could not immediately have and will require great effort from her husband to have them. The American wife, enslaved by loneliness and insecurity, displayed selfishness as she repeatedly said, â€Å"Anyway, I want a cat. I want a cat. I want a cat now. If I can’t have long hair or any fun, I can have a cat† (Hemingway 106). Desiring for uncommon things during a vacation trip only meant that there was something wrong with the main character. It wasn’t just the conscious feeling of loneliness that kept her from enjoying the married life; the fact that she wasn’t able to directly express her feelings about how unhappy she is to her husband means that she has been denying the feeling of loneliness herself. The way she felt wasn’t questionable, neither were her feelings unique, but the way she expressed her feelings made them so because she was unconsciously, hardly pressed by her fears. Asking for a cat, and reciting all her desires, â€Å"I want to pull my hair back tight and smooth and make a big knot at the back that I can feel†¦ I want to have a kitty to sit on my lap and purr when I stroke her†¦ and I want to eat at a table with my own silver and I want candles. And I want it to be spring and I want to brush my hair out in front of a mirror and I want a kitty and I want some new clothes.† all of a sudden seems unusual, and it sure is one unique way to attract attention and show her longing for acceptance and love. (Hemingway 105) In comparison to Miss Brill, the American wife is lucky to have someone than no one at all. Miss Brill is an old single woman who wants to be loved in return. Seen in the text is her deep desire to impress other people as she takes time to dress up and try to look beautiful with her favourite old fur necklet before going out to the park. It had been part of her weekly ritual to go out to the park and stroll around, secretly showing how she wants to have her existence validated by the society. Just like the American wife, Miss Brill also has the tendency to shrug off her loneliness, denying the fact that she is unhappy with the way her life is going. This is evident in the first paragraph of the story, â€Å"And when she breathed, something light and sad – no, not sad, exactly – something gentle seemed to move in her bosom† (Mansfield 48). With her shrugging all these feelings off comes the danger of not realizing how desperate her actions seem to other people. These actions, such as eavesdropping on other peoples’ conversations, wearing the old fur necklet and looking silly, acting as if she were on a play, all root from loneliness she had been experiencing. Her desire to be accepted and be united with the community stems from within though she doesn’t seem so conscious of what she exactly wants, thus acting in a weird, odd manner. Miss Brill sought attention and acceptance in a unique way, as her actions and train of thoughts (â€Å"†¦that Miss Brill discovered what it made it so exciting. They were all on stage†) (Mansfield 50) are not normally done and thought about by people who seek the same thing. This proves how much acceptance of one’s weaknesses can help him/her get through it, something that denying can never do. The same situation was what Miss Emily experienced. Her loneliness came from her lack of freedom back when her father was still alive as he was very strict with the relationships she had with others. By the time her father was gone, she had a hard time relating with the rest of the community, isolating herself inside the house. Just like the two other characters mentioned, Miss Emily also had the tendency to deny this loneliness, bluntly shown when she kept her father’s dead body in her house for three days and not accepting others’ sympathy: â€Å"The day after his death all the ladies prepared to call at the house and offer condolence and aid, as is our custom. Miss Emily met them at the door, dressed as usual and with no trace of grief on her face. She told them that her father was not dead† (Faulkner 59) With the constant denial of this loneliness and longing for acceptance, she finds herself obsessing over Homer Barron, who happens to not be a marrying kind and refuses her love for him. Her oppressed feelings for him and her deep desire for his love and acceptance led her to doing unique and questionable actions for her to get him, with or without his consent. As the story progresses, she finds herself purchasing arsenic, a rat poison, and kills Homer Barron without pity. It was a selfish move for her to do; she didn’t even seem to bother about how wrong it was, nor did she think about the possible consequences of such action. What she did was definitely unique and questionable, considering how immoral and selfish it was to kill someone for her own benefit. Just like the American wife who had been pressed by her fears leading to such weird doings, Miss Emily also had her share of fear in losing Homer Barron. The three female characters’ pursuit of love can be so strongly driven that they find themselves doing unique and questionable ways to be loved and accepted in return. They all had fears empowering the loneliness they were feeling, making them deny this poverty in them more and thus, leading to the unique and questionable ways they did in the story. This only shows how much desires can be so powerful that it can make people do anything to get what it is that would make them happy and complete. It is then, important to be able to accept one’s own weaknesses to be able to know and understand what it is that can fully solve and patch things up, something that denying and concealing can never do. Works Cited: [1] â€Å"Mother Teresa of Calcutta quotes.† Find the famous quotes you need, ThinkExist.com Quotations.Thinkexist.com, Web. 4 Jan 2013. [2] Hemingway, Ernest. â€Å"Cat in the Rain.† Lit 13 English Dept. Ateneo de Manila University. Quezon City: np., 2012. 103-106. Print. [3] Mansfield, Katherine. â€Å"Miss Brill.† Lit 13 English Dept. Ateneo de Manila University. Quezon City: np., 2012. 48-51. Print. [4] Faulkner, William. â€Å"A Rose for Emily.† Lit 13 English Dept. Ateneo de Manila University. Quezon City: np., 2012. 57-64. Print.

Hand with the Reflecting Sphere

Reflection of Life Near the end of every journey of life, people will look back and reflect on past doings to judge the weight of what they feel their life was worth. For some, that reflection may be filled with feelings of accomplishment and contentment. That feeling can be for things such as settling down with a family or just simply making the most of what life has thrown at them. For others, however, the reflections may be filled with various memories of regrets stemming from things such as lost loves or an isolated lifestyle. Hand with Reflecting Globe, a picture drawn by M. C.Escher, a famous artist, depicts an example of a life reflection, in this case, the artist himself. The concept Escher tries to express is that each spontaneous action or decision has a major influence on what can seen in the reflection. The message being shown through this picture is that every man, woman or child who does not take full advantage of the life given to them will live only to look back on wh at can be described as an empty room, nothing to express emotionally and certainly nothing important enough to form any kind of attachment, however, a major element in Escher’s image is power.Power to control and change the reflection in the globe depending on the individual’s choices and actions in life. The focal point of any piece of artwork is the one object that instantly grabs the audience’s attention, in this case, the man, a representation of a life full of regret and delusion. The neutral expression seen on his face suggests that he holds no particular attachment to his surroundings and constantly keeping a professional front, not usually a feeling associated with one’s home. Another feature that hides what the man is currently thinking is his beard.Covering half of his face, the beard serves as a barrier between the reflection and the man’s emotions, in a sense, protection from reality. The simple curve of the globe causes the man’ s facial features to appear as if he has a small smile on his face, perhaps because the man wants to delude himself into thinking that the life he currently leads is not as horrible as it looks. The suit being worn leads the viewer to believe that while he may have a successful career, the man puts more attention on his work than his personal life that he seems to be uncomfortable even in such an intimate setting.His rigid posture also adds to the formality that he holds. The man sees his own home to be unfamiliar territory, stemming from the idea that he has no one to come home to, and holds no emotional attachment. Because of the lack of attachment, the man seems to be lifeless in the sense that there is a lack of movement or emotion within his body. The entire room is entirely bare of any personal belongings, such as intimate pictures, that can be usually seen littered in people’s homes symbolizing loneliness.The air in the room, like the man, seems to be completely lifele ss because things seem to be firmly planted on the ground and completely still. The furniture in the room seems to be completely untouched suggesting the lack of visitors. Their positioning, however, is set up in an intimate manner, a delusion made by the man into thinking that he does not lead an entirely lonely life. Besides the lack of anyone else in the room, the windows also radiate an isolated feeling. The bars on the windows closely resemble prison bars along with no visible door suggest that there is no escape.Prisons keep prisoners isolated from the general public as a form of punishment; the man sees that his current lifestyle is a type of punishment because prison bars keep people in but they also keep people out, isolating him further. On the other hand, the only light source visible in the room is coming from the windows hinting towards the brighter world outside and what the man could have had instead of sitting in a darkened corner. Because of the isolation his  "prison cell† provides, it only allows the man to see outside the windows and not interact with them physically causing a feeling of loneliness.When thinking of a globe, most come to the conclusion to the model of Earth, the public’s world. In this picture, however, the globe is a symbol for a world, more specifically the man’s world. Because of the characteristics of crystal, it causes one’s reflection to be flipped upside down and no matter how much the man may try to delude himself, it is too late to completely turn his life around. Therefore, the world the man is looking into is not his future, but into his past. The clarity of the reflection suggests that the globe is made of a chrome material.Chrome balls are hollow on the inside representing the emptiness within the man’s world. Because of the weightless quality, seen from the lack of strain in holding up the ball, the man’s world can be seen as extremely fragile and unstable. The frai lty can be connected back to the man’s lack of attachments because he finds nothing important enough to weigh down and stabilize his world. Each new attachment or accomplishment made in one’s life slowly adds weight and size to the globe also making it sturdier giving it a sense of balance, something humans seek in everything they see and do.In the man’s world, however, his lack of attachments is affecting the stability and size of his world since his world only consists of that one room. The room is big enough for a family but only houses one, thus, bringing, a sense of loneliness and regret. Within in the globe being depicted, it shows all the flaws of a life full of isolation despite the flawless nature of the surface of the globe. The hand, as simple as it is, plays a role just as important as any of the other symbols. â€Å"Take control into your own hands,† is a saying that is drawn quite literally in this picture because the hand is a symbol for co ntrol.Escher is emphasizing the fact that the holder is always in control of their world based on the decisions made. The weight of someone’s world is dependent on the confidence to make words become actions and being able to prioritize the events in one’s life. Thinking of the size difference between a hand and the world is astronomical. In the picture, however, both the globe and the hand are drawn roughly the same size showing the importance of both and how much of an influence one decision can make on their reflection. Besides the globe, the hand, in reality, is the only object that is physically in the picture.The man and the room are simply visual reflections. That small detail shows that the hand is the only controlling factor when it comes to what is being reflected and the only connection to reality. A hand to individuals is unique, just like his or her thought process. Therefore, each reflection varies person-to-person good or bad depending on their own choic es. A life filled with no attachments or achievements can cause a reflection filled with emptiness and regret when they do not live their life to the fullest and take control of their life.The regrets may come from being too absorbed in one aspect they completely ignore or forget about the other and it causes damage as time ticks on and it starts becoming too late. Escher has drawn a piece that truly resonates in any kind of person to convey the message that the power to live life to the fullest all rests in the palms of their hands and it is up to each and every person to make the decisions that influence the accomplishments and achievements made throughout lives.However, another message that comes through with the picture is also that the superficial world is what defines what is important today. People are more focused on making the money to live comfortably and to show off the material possessions that are owned. That drive to own material possessions has caused the neglect of t he social life that leads to the lonely and depressed feeling that is personified in the picture drawn by Escher. The picture is clear, materials hold no meaning and no pull without anyone to share in the success and provide support along the way.

Autism Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Autism - Term Paper Example This paper specifically focuses on how biology impacts psychology  and analyses the structure of the brain, neuron activities, synapses activities, activities of neurotransmitters etc in relation with autism. â€Å"Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder of genetic origins, with a heritability of about 90%. There is no single biological or clinical marker for autism, nor is it expected that a single gene is responsible for its expression; as many as 15+ genes may be involved. No single region of the brain or pathophysiological mechanism has yet been identified as being associated with autism. Postmortem findings, animal models, and neuroimaging studies have focused on the cerebellum, frontal cortex, hippocampus, and especially the amygdala. The cerebello-thalamo-cortical circuit may also be influential in autism. There is evidence that overall brain size is increased in some individuals with autism (Santangelo &  Tsatsanis, 2005). Environmental influences can also cause autism along with genetic factors; however genetic factors seem to be the major reason for autism in more than 90% children with autism. Autism is considered as a developmental disorder. At the same time it is a genetic disorder also. In other words, autism is a mental disorder which affects the physical, emotional, social and behavioral development of a child. Psychologists included autism among the pervasive developmental disorders (PDD). Autism mainly affect three areas of development; social interaction, language development and behavioral patterns. At present medical science has no answer or treatment to this serious psychological disorder. So far no effective drugs have been produced for the treatment of autism. Structure of the brain plays a vital role in causing autism. Neurophysiological functions believed to cause this disorder. In fact, the defect caused in the signals sent and received by brain using the

2-5 paragraphs on the history of the broadcasting of the U.S. open and Essay

2-5 paragraphs on the history of the broadcasting of the U.S. open and then 2 other seperate ones on the history of the broadcasting of the masters golf tournament - Essay Example n able to broadcast the tournament live in HD in fact, in the year 203, both NBC as well as ESPN planned an unprecedented total of over 35 hours of combined live coverage of the U.S open. The Masters Golf tournament can be said to be a long time spring stable when it comes to the sports TV calendar. The Augusta National Golf club has over the years partnered with CBS and they can be said to have a unique relationship (Gomery, 18). This is because CBS often pays lower than market value for the broadcasting rights. The first time the Masters were televised was in the year 1956 (Gomery 5). CBS has been able to provide the coverage for the masters since it was first gotten in the year 1956. ESPN has, however; also taken the rights doe broadcasting the masters and it has expanded its coverage to around 5 hours each day. The scheduled live team has increased from 2.5 hours to around 18

Women's role during the Great Depression and during world war ll Essay

Women's role during the Great Depression and during world war ll - Essay Example Women served as nurses or teachers, cooks or cleaners. Some even ventured into men’s jobs. In such cases, discrimination was commonplace. Women were not deemed as clever or as physically strong as their male counterparts, and as a result, were often harassed, by their bosses and trade unionists. They therefore, had to fight to be taken seriously because their male counterparts were often very suspicious of their capabilities. It was a time for women to shine despite the discrimination they experienced. When no other men were available, women were given significant tasks that were originally assigned to men. They were initially trained to the same standard as men, but employers eventually didn’t want to hire fully trained women because they received better pay, which upset the trained male workers, causing friction in the workplace. Equal pay became a huge issue that women fought for and this even spurred the women’s liberation movement. Indeed, women made productive use of their time during the war. They were able to combine work, marriage and motherhood without seriously undermining their expected home responsibilities. A woman’s participation in the war effort did not doom conventional sexual divisions of labour while compensating her work with much needed payment without threatening her domestic duties. This multi-faceted role also gave her a feeling of personal importance which is mostly taken for granted by the people around her. The war was devastating for most people, taking the lives of their loved ones, destroying their properties and livelihood. Previously held values were put aside as morality took a plunge in the name of survival. It was a very emotional time for all, and women were tested of their emotional and physical strength to carry on despite all the hardships and challenges thrown their way. Most women proved themselves and have gained skills to they were able to use in various tasks.

I though I knew what good management was Article

I though I knew what good management was - Article Example his mix feelings, when he arrived in SFD for his first time, where there were approximately one hundred workers on the site, including the gasification pilot plant, support, building and offices. Peace explains that he had mixed feelings of challenges of significant opportunities and threat of situations concerning technology and market, which were foreign to him. Moreover, he explains that it took him four years to gather confidence in discussing issues related to technology with knowledgeable customers. Peace also had problems with employee attitudes, which he identifies through attitude survey months before he arrived in the company. In fact, he compared these attitudes with others, and they were not favorable to him, though he had a solution for these issues, which included effective communication and site cafeteria for addressing the employees. The employees’ attitudes attributed to distrust of management and hostility, which was difficult for him to understand. During the period when trouble was brewing, problems, which seemed to have been resolved, kept recurring, and the managers were applying the same agenda. Consequently, the employees were complaining about innovative ideas from the management were impractical risky and expensive. Peace also explains that he was unhappy with lack of management follow-through, since the managers seemed to be against the system, though the business objectives were well articulated in the company. Moreover, he mentions about his effort in calling a meeting for a discussion related to issues of management style, which bore no fruits. Peace narrates about the period when the problem escalated in the company, whereby there was undeclared war within the division, which might have gone on indefinitely to act of vandalism. In fact, during November 1982, there were unidentified employees involved in slashing the tires of two cars belonging to the managers parked off-site. This act was due to the employee resentment towards

Market report about Opening a restaurant in London, ON Research Paper

Market report about Opening a restaurant in London, ON - Research Paper Example an easy accessible location and would be catering to all the age groups; families, business associates and students having a varied menu at reduced prices so that more people are able to approach it, increasing the business in the cosmopolitan area at Hyde Park. Furthermore, restaurant will have an innovative interior depicting infusion of cultures, warm ambiance as Tina has always been keen on designing interiors and also has an inclination to drafting appealing profile menu, so these will be the strengths of the restaurant. One of the weaknesses of the restaurant would be that as the company is new, Tina would need management teams that can run business effectively. That would be a difficult for Tina to approach candidates and select competent employees, provide training and supervise them to work effectively in the restaurant. The second weakness could be there would not be any relationship with the customers and the company is starting from scratch to establish a niche market so they have to build loyal customers. The biggest opportunity for Tina to build business was on the fact that she won a lottery ticket that she could use and invest money to start the restaurant business at a high profile place, which was her passion and dream. As a new restaurant, the company has the opportunity to attract people through promotional schemes and other marketing medium. The threat lies on the competitive forces that exist within the locality posing a threat to the new business. As restaurant business is new, Tina would require time and patience to establish a reputed name for her business. The locality where the business is set consists of a chain of reputed restaurants that may act as a barrier for customers to approach the new restaurant. The restaurant would be located at Hyde Park so there are three main competitors in the market, Montana’s Cookhouse, Kelsey’s and Boston Pizza. A competitive analysis of the three restaurants shows that there are certain

Phenomenology and building Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Phenomenology and building - Essay Example Thesis Statement: The purpose of this paper is to write a phenomenological account of Le Corbusier’s Chapelle Notre-Dame du-Haut at Ronchamp. This account emphasizing the qualities of one’s personal experience of the feelings, images and emotions evoked by the building will be related to its material, form and spaces. Le Corbusier states that â€Å"the purpose of architecture is to move us. Architectural emotion exists when the work rings within us in tune with a universe whose laws we obey, recognize and respect† (Fortkamp 39). Similarly, according to Heidegger’s (1962) theory underscoring the phenomenology of built spaces, â€Å"there is no being apart from a world, rather there is first and only a Being in the world† (Seamon 248). Norberg-Schulz (1971), Relph (1976) and other theorists have identified modes of spatial experience as evident in a loose, continuous occurrence ranging from the abstract, measured geometric space to the concretely experienced space of daily living referred to as lived space. Unlike Plato and Euclid’s conceptualization of geometry as the science of space, the phenomenological perspective considers geometric space as having â€Å"a powerful predictive capacity rather than any superior claims to truth† (Seamon 248), while perspectives and impressions of the lived space of the life world form the actual reality. The history of the site as well as that of the earlier predecessor buildings catalysed the creative imagination of Le Corbusier into developing the building as it now exists (Figure 1). The Chapelle Notre-Dame du-Haut at Ronchamp is a chapel of pilgrimmage located at an ancient pilgimmage site, standing on a hill above the village of Ronchamp on the southern edge of the Vosges mountains in France. The present building is used for religious purposes by the clergy. Le Corbusier’s mind took inspiration from an ancient era of human antiquity to create the

Scholarships for African American Students Essay Example for Free

Scholarships for African American Students Essay Even if you do not have a college-aged child at home, please share this with someone who does, and to anyone and everyone that comes to mind. Though there are a number of companies and organizations that have donated money for scholarships to African Americans, a great deal of the money is being returned because of a lack of interest or awareness. Take the initiative to get your children involved. Money shouldnt be returned to donating companies because we fail to apply for it Please pass this information on to family members, nieces, nephews, friends with children etc. We must get the word out that money is available. If you are a college student or getting ready to become one, you probably already know how useful additional money can be. (If clicking on the link doesnt work, then type in the Web site address manually.) 1) BELL LABS FELLOWSHIPS FOR UNDER REPRESENTED MINORITIES http://www.bell- labs.com/ fellowships/ CRFP/info. html See more: how to write a scholarship essay for study abroad 2) Student Inventors Scholarships http://www.invent. org/collegiate http://www.invent. org/collegiate/ 3) Student Video Scholarships http://www.christop hers.org/ /vidcon2k.html 4) Coca-Cola Two Year College Scholarships http://www.coca- colascholars. org/programs. html 5) Holocaust Remembrance Scholarships http://holocaust. hklaw.com/ 6) Ayn Rand Essay Scholarships http:/ /www.aynrand. org/contests/ 7) Brand Essay Competition http://www.institut eforbrandleaders hip.org/IBLEssay Contest-2002Rule s.htm 8) Gates Millennlum=20 Scholarships (major) http://www.gmsp. org/nominationma terials/read. dbm?ID 9) Xerox Scholarships for Students http://www2. xerox.com/ go/xrx/about_ xerox/about_ xerox_detail. jsp 10) Sports Scholarships and Internships http://www.ncaa. org/about/ scholarships. html 11) National Assoc. of Black Journalists Scholarships (NABJ) http://www/..nabj.org/html/ studentsvcs. html 12) Saul T. Wilson Scholarships (Veterinary) http://www.aphis. usda.gov/ mb/mrphr/ jobs/stw. html 13) Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund http://www.thurgood marshallfund. org/sk_v6. cfm 14) FinAid: The Smart Students Guide to Financial Aid scholarships) http://www.finaid. org/ 15) Presidential Freedom Scholarships http://wwwnational service.org/ scholarships/ 16) Microsoft Scholarship Program http://www.microsof t.com/college/ scholarships/ minority. asp 17) WiredScholar Free Scholarship Search http://www.wiredsch olar.com/ paying/scholarsh ip_search/ pay_scholarship_ searc h.jsp 18) Hope Scholarships Lifetime Credits http://www.ed. gov/inits/ hope/ 19) William Randolph Hearst Endowed Scholarship for Minority Studentshttp://www.apsanet. org/PS/grants/ aspen3.cfm 20) Multiple List of Minority Scholarships http://gehon. ir.miami. edu/financial- assistance/ Scholarship/ black..html 21) Guaran teed Scholarships http://www.guarante ed-scholarships. com/ 22) BOEING scholarships (some HBCU connects)http://www.boeing. com/companyoffic es/educationrela tions/scholarshi ps 23) Easley National Scholarship Program http://www.naas. org/senior. .htm 24) Maryland Artists Scholarships http://wwwmaef. org/ 26) Jacki Tuckfield Memorial Graduate Business Scholarship (for AA students in South Florida )http://www.jackituc kfield.org/ 27) Historically Black College University Scholarships http://www.iesabroa d.org/info/ hbcu.htm 28) Actuarial Scholarships for Minority Studentshttp://www.beanactu ary.org/minority /scholarships. htm 29) International Students Scholarships Aid Help http://www.iefa. org/ 30) College Board Scholarship Searchhttp://cbweb10p. collegeboard. org/fundfinder/ html/fundfind01. html 31) Burger King Scholarship= 20 Program http://www.bkschola rs.csfa.org/ 32) Siemens Westinghouse Competition http://www.siemens- foundationorg/ 33) GE and LuLac Scholarship Funds http://www.lulac. org/Programs/ Scholar.html 34) CollegeNet s Scholarship Database http://mach25. collegenet. com/cgi-bin/ M25/index 35) Union Sponsored Scholarships and Aid http://www.. aflcioorg/ scholarships/ scholar.htm 36) Federal Scholarships Aid Gateways 25 Scholarship Gateways from Black Excelhttp://www.blackexc el.org/25scholar ships.htm 37) Scholarship Financial Aid Help http://www.blackexc elorg/fin- sch.htm 38) Scholarship Links (Ed Finance Group) http://www.efg. net/link_ scholarship. htm 39) FAFSA On The Web (Your Key Aid Form Info) http://www.fafsa. ed.gov/ 40) Aid Resources For Reentry Students http://www.back2col lege.com/ 41) Scholarships and Fellowships http://www.osc. cuny.edu/ sep/links. h tml 42) Scholarships for Study in Paralegal Studies http://www.paralega ls.org/Choice/ 2000west. htm 43) HBCU Packard Sit Abroad Scholarships (for study around the world)http://www.sit. edu/studyabroad/ packard_nominati on.html 44) Scholarship and Fellowship Opportunities http://ccmi. uchicago. .edu/schl1. html 45) INROADS internships http://www.inroads. org/ 46) ACT-SO bEURoeOlympics of the Mind A Scholarshipsttp://www.naacp. org/ work/actso/ act-so.shtml 47) Black Alliance for Educational Options Scholarshipsttp://www.baeo. org/ options/privatel yfinanced. jsp 48) ScienceNet Scholarship Listingttp://www.sciencenet. emory.edu/ undergrad/ scholarships html 49) Graduate Fellowships For Minorities Nationwidettp://cuinfo. cornell. edu/Student/ GRFN/list. phtml?category= MINORITIES 50) RHODES SCHOLARSHIPS AT OXFORD ttp://www.rhodesscholar. org /info.html 51) The Roothbert Scholarship Fund ttp://www.roothbertfund. org/scholExpanding your horizons Motivating young women in science and mathematics On January 29th from 8:00-1:00 pm the Central New Mexico Community College will be hosting an event to get girls in grades 5-9 excited about science For more information and to register for this free event by Jan. 14th: www.expandingyourhorizons.org/conferences/Albuquerque/ 505-750-8131 [emailprotected]

Mary Shelley novel Frankenstein Essay Example for Free

Mary Shelley novel Frankenstein Essay Once, Victor completes his creation of the being he finds him to be very repulsive and he feels it is impossible to love such a thing , His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of a lustrous black and flowing but these luxuries only formed a more horrid contrast. Instead of staying to understand why and how his experiment went so drastically wrong, or to take care of his creation, he runs away from his responsibilities with fear one hand wrenched out, seemingly to detain me, but I escape and rushed down stairs During Victors encounters with his creation he treats his creation with disrespect and hatred even though it was he who created this monster. Victor feels his creation is disdain and malignant, he also feels that his creatures ugliness rendered it almost too horrible for human eyes . During this time Victor is very childish in his opinions as he insults his creation it hasnt done anything wrong. But on the other hand, his creation tries to be civilized and reasonable. Victor tries using his intelligence to fight against the creature, as the creature defeats him in any imaginable physical aspect. But Victor underestimates the creatures true intelligence and understanding of life; the creature returns the fire back to Victor with his own degree of intelligence. This situation soon turns to Victor becoming seriously immature and irresponsible, as he tries to incorporate a verbal battle into the damage relationship between them unlike the creature who tries to civil. Initially Frankensteins creature is seen as aggressive and violent but this is only shown in the eyes of Victor Frankenstein. The creation is no portrayed a thoughtful and caring creature but this is overshadowed by his aggression which he only uses to emphasise is want for a father figure and a friend, so he looks to Frankenstein, his creature. Because of Frankensteins rejection the creature becomes more and more bitter and rejected and as a result becomes more violent and aggressive which is his way of portraying hatred towards Frankenstein. At this point of the novel the creature created by Frankenstein acts more adult-like than Frankenstein himself. I feel that Frankenstein should take responsibility for his own action and consider the consequences, and then reflect on these consequences, but he totally rejects the creature because of its appearance. The creation has learnt a lot of advanced knowledge in a short space of time, and has become more lingual than his creator, which shows that the creature could live alone in the world but it just needs a companion or a father figure to help him on the way. Victors tragic fate is sealed by his growing obsession to destroy his creation because of all the hurt it has caused him in the latter stages of the novel. As Victors obsession to destroy the monster grows he begins to have a role reversal as he becomes the outsider and the creature becomes the supremely intelligent one, now he experiences all the misery and hatred that the monster felt after he rejected him. This change is quite ironic as the creature and Victor switch roles. This ironic change also shows Frankenstein how he treated people at this time from this Victor learnt a very important lesson Treat others as you would like to be treated yourself . This change now begins to change Victors perspective on life, as he starts to feel guilty for what he has put his creation through, the torture and rejection. The guilt has now been emphasised by the hatred of Frankenstein of him self and his hatred of the creature. In conclusion the tragic fate of Victor Frankenstein is brought about by his own careless actions. Mary Shelley is showing us that the causes of Victors death were down to himself and his own actions. Victors careless pursuit of scientific knowledge is partly to blame for his fate as he never, until his monster was created thought about the consequences. Victors overstepping of human boundaries by defying God and going against nature is also partially to blame as, he again never considers the moral issues surrounding the recreation of people. Finally the main point of his fate was caused by his inability to love what he has given to live. Frankenstein only sees his creation for its inhuman looks and physical appearance, instead of the creatures personality and feelings; he only shows a one-dimensional view of the monster. Mary Shelley has given the novel a hidden message, this message is trying to put across the dangers of pride and egotism, as in the novel Victor feels that when he recreates life he will become world famous. The second message of this novel is that the careless use of science can become dangerous. Frankenstein not considering the consequences of his action is showing this careless use of science. Mary Shelley does not criticize this act of creation, but Victor is unwilling to accept responsibility, for his deeds. His creation only becomes a monster because of its rejection from humans and especially Victor Frankenstein. Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Mary Shelley section.

Performance-Based Funding In Higher Education

Performance-Based Funding In Higher Education Performance-based funding in the context of Higher Education System: Pros and Cons Abstract Performance-Based Funding once very popular in 1980s. However, when more other funding approaches been found out, Performance-based Funding no more a mainstream funding approaches. Recently, this funding approach has back to the stage, especially in the educational field. In this paper will explain about the pros and cons of this funding approach in the context of higher education system in Malaysia. Keyword: Budgeting, Educational Funding, Higher Education, Performance-based funding 1. Introduction Performance-based funding is one of the funding approaches among numerous types of direct public funding of higher educational institution approaches. The other types of direct public funding of institution have funding of teaching through negotiated formula, demand-side vouchers, funding for specific purposes or combined funding for teaching and research, block grant funding and project funding zero-based budgeting, quality circle, six-sigma, and etc.(Salmi and Hauptman, 2006). Performance-based funding is the approach that budgeting based on the performance of individual public university. The performance of individual public university can be measure by using Performance Indicator, which is a set of specific expectation that need to be achieve by the public university. Examples of Performance Indicator are like student result or the number of student passing examination. 2. Main Body Performance-based Funding is currently in the progress of implementation by the Ministry of Education in Malaysia toward all the public university in Malaysia. Implementation of the Performance-based Funding has brings some advantages to both Ministry of Education and public university. In this paper, some of advantages will be shown in clearly and briefly. 2.1 Help in Save Budget First at all, Performance-based Funding can Malaysia Government to save budget. Budget always is a hot issue in Malaysia, not only the Ministry of Education but the whole Malaysia Federal Government. For example the Malaysia Budgeting 2015 that release on 10 October 2014, after the Budgeting Plan is release, many different voices are talking about this Budgeting Plan, some are appraisal, and some are critics. Under the pressure of critics, Performance-based Funding can help release part of the pressure by saving the budget in Educational Fund. According to the study of World Bank / EPU, Performance-based Funding could save up to thirty percent of the budge. In Malaysia Budgeting 2015, budget for Ministry of Education is RM 56 billion (National News Agency of Malaysia). Save up to 30 percent of the budget, which means is about RM 16.8 billion. A reducing of such big amount of budgeting can be a great counter attack toward all the critics from outside. 2.2 Resources Allocation Another advantage following saving budget will be resources allocation. Based on the same example on previous paragraph, Performance-based Funding could release about RM 16.8 billion of budget from the Ministry of Education. This unallocated budget can be uses in many different ways, such as increase allowance for the staff of university, as a reward for high performance university, increase loan to students and any other way that can further improve the quality of public university in Malaysia. Besides using the unallocated fund in Ministry of Education, the unallocated fund that free by Performance-based Funding can be uses in other Ministry or field in the purpose of developing the strengths and infrastructures in Malaysia, so that Malaysia can become a developed country in 2020. 2.3 Motivate University to Work Hard. The implementation of Performance-based Funding will not only bring advantages to the Ministry of Education or Malaysian Federal Government, it also brings advantages to the public university. Performance-based Funding will motivate the public university to work hard. The Performance-based Funding will budgeting an individual public university according to the performance of the university on the Performance Indicator. Hence, to get more fund or budget, university will do harder on improving their performance on the Performance Indicator, such as the CGPA of student, number of student get first class honors, number of student passing particular examination, and etc. These Performance Indicators will be set and measure by the Ministry of Education, so that the Ministry can funding and rewarding based on the achievement on these Performance Indicators. 2.4 Avoid Vicious Competition Another than motivate the university to work hard, Performance-based Funding will help avoid the vicious competition among public university. Competition can be a double-edge in an organization, a suitable level of competition among colleague can improve the performance of organization. However, when vicious competition occurs, it will bring bad effect toward the organization. Same case in public university, to get more budgets from the Ministry of Education, university competes with each other to attract the attention of the Ministry, so that the university can get more funds. In many times, this competition between public universities will become vicious competition; this will bring bad effect toward the development of Malaysia, and the staff and student will become the victims of this competition. This Performance-based Funding could avoid the vicious competition, the funding will based on the performance of the university. In this condition, university will focus more on the achievement on Performance Indicators, and the universities will not have time to compete with each other. In other word, compete with other university do not bring any help in improving the performance of university. 3. Discussion Same like other funding approaches; implement of Performance-based Funding will not only bring benefit, it will have some side effects or disadvantages. Some of the disadvantages will be discuss at here. 3.1 Performance Indicators One of the main disadvantages of Performance-based Funding is the standard of the Performance Indicators. Performance Indicator is the specific expectation that will set up by the Ministry of Education. However, the problem is what standard this Performance Indicator should follow; this is because each university has own standard, own level, own expert field, and most important different number of students due to geographical condition. This means, a single set of Performance Indicator cannot fulfill all the standard of university; but it take more time, cost and human forces to set up and measure specific Performance Indicator to every and each of the university. Besides that, setting up a set of Performance Indicator for university may affect the behavior and the decision making of the particular university. When there is a Performance Indicator, university will be more likely to focus on those Performance indicators. University strategies, planning, decision making may become aggressive in making achievement in the Performance Indicator and may ignore other aspect of Teaching and Learning Process within the university in the purpose of getting more budgets. 4. Conclusion In a nutshell, implement Performance-based Funding in the higher education system has pros and cons. However, this funding approach has more advantages as compare to the disadvantages. Hence, Performance-based Funding is suitable to implement in higher education system in Malaysia. 5. References Abd Rahman Ahmad, Alan Farley. (2013). Funding Reforms in Malaysian Public Universities from the Perspective of Strategic Planning. (pp. International Conference on Innovation, Management and Technology Research). Malaysia: Elsevier Ltd. Nicoline Frà ¸lich, Evanthia Kalpazidou Schmidt ,Maria J. Rosa. (2010). Funding systems for higher education and their impacts on institutional strategies and academia. International Journal of Educational Management. Reelika Irs and Kulno Tu ¨rk. (2012). Implementation of the performance-related pay in the general educational schools of Estonia. Employee Relations. Tam, M. (2014). Outcomes-based approach to quality assessment and curriculum improvement in higher education. Quality Assurance in Education.

The Film (Movie) Version of All Quiet on the Western Front :: Movie Film Essays

The Film (Movie) Version of All Quiet on the Western Front   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the movie "All Quiet on the Western Front"   we see the boys almost innocent as they sit in class. The teacher in this scene is pressuring the boys to go to war. He preaches that it is their "duty" to fight.   The teacher seems very pushy and strict. He is especially strict with Paul, the main character in the movie. In this particular scene, Paul is drawing a picture of a bird. In Paul's family they are glad that he is going to war. His family prays for him and they pray for the Kaiser, the ruler of Germany. We see here that this is ironic because Paul's family is praying for someone they   have never met.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   When Paul goes to see his friend in the hospital, another friend asks for the boots he has. This shows that the boys are already changing.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   When the boys go to the training camp they are still innocent. They meet Corporal Himmelstoss. Corporal Himmelstoss is very mean to the boys and is very strict. After completing   the Training camp the boys go to war. When the boys get to the battlefield they are told by Kat their leader, that what they learned in training camp they do not need to know because, you don't need to know how to march in war. The first day they are there, Paul sees a horse getting killed. He is very mad about this because the horses are innocent and they are not involved with the war. Paul is changed emotionally by this and he is sad about it.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   After the boys see the Kaiser they talk and don't even know what they are fighting for. One night in battle Paul killed a French soldier. Once he killed the solider he begins to regret that he killed him. He looks at the pictures of the soldier's   family. Paul says that "they could of been brothers". Paul trys to save the soldier's life but, cannot. Paul realizes that he has killed another human. Paul feels remorse      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In battle Albert, Paul, and Franz get wounded. Franz dies and Albert gets his leg amputated. Albert becomes depressed and becomes suicidal.

A Midsummer Nights Dream by William Shakespeare :: A Midsummer Nights Dream, William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream is very unique because there is a play within a play. Shakespeare uses the interesting qualities of the characters to narrate the play. The characters can be divided into four groups: The Athenian Court (The Duke, Hippolyta, Egeus, and Philostrate); the young lovers (Hermia, Lysander, Helena, and Demetrius); the fairy kingdom (Oberon, Titania, Puck, and the lesser fairies); and the workmen (Bottom, Quince, Flute, Snout, Starveling, and Snug). The Athenian court is the obvious upper class division of scoiety in Athens. Theseus is head of the Athenian state and his role is to maintain justice. Hippolyta is Theseus's new bride and shows sympathy to the young lovers. Both Theseus and Hippolyta are classified as legendary characters and collectively show their maturity and commitment to marriage. Egeus is a stubborn father whose character loses worth toward the end of the plot, while Philostrate's part is short and undeveloped. Despite being a group, the young lovers are more interesting than the Athenian court. 2 The male young lovers are somewhat similar in qualities. They are young and fall in and out of love quickly. For example Demetrius and Lysander both reject a girl they once loved; they fight over a one girl and then over the other. On the other hand, Hermia and Helena are not as similar because Hermia is short and Helena is tall. These characters are more interesting than the Athenian court because they provide the theme of commitment and being unfaithful. The young lovers are touched by magic by the fairy kingdom members. A member of the fairy kingdom, Oberon is resentful and generous at that the same time. Case in point, Oberon is resentful toward Titania refuses to hand over her boy, and generous in his attempt to make things go well for the the young lovers. Titania is a strong individual and stands up for herself against Oberon. But Titania too also is generous showing love for Bottom. Lastly, Puck is as servant for Oberon and does exactly what he says. Unfortunately he does not do everything correctly. For instance, Oberon requests that Puck use magic on Demetrius to return Helena's love, however he employs the magic upon Lysander instead. Puck means well but isn't necessarily given the respect due to him.

Computer Protection and Maintainance Report Essay

I hope you have received the machine in good working order. Now that you have the machines, there are several pieces of ‘Utility Software’ that should be installed on your machine in order to assist with the smooth running and protection of the machine. There are four main categories for this Protection Virus To protect the computer from malicious software that can break the machine. Firewall To prevent hackers and malicious programs making internet connections for bad purposes. Clean-up tools These provide no protection; however they remove unnecessary files and registry entries. They can also remove spy ware sometimes. Disk Formatting These tools are useful only when formatting the disk drive. This doesn’t normally need to be done, unless there is a severe problem with the OS. There are several programs that fit in each category, and there are advantages and disadvantages to each application. These can include Cost, Resource Footprint and usability. Sometimes the free utilities can also be the best ones. All vary, some are awful and some are brilliant. Hopefully this email should outline which ones are best for the system, and which ones I would recommend. Virus Protection Virus Protection scanners, go through three places to find virii. HDD – Looks at every file on the disc. Memory – Scans the currently running memory to see if a virus is running now Behaviour – Scans both the memory and hard drive for suspicious well known behaviour and – patterns that suggest malicious software Software Suggestions GRISOFT – AVG 1. Completely Free 10/10 2. Anti-Virus & Anti-Spy ware Protection 8/10 3. Slow Virus Search -3/10 4. Simple Interface 5/10 5. Medium Power Footprint 5/10 Total Score = 25/50 Very popular solution, highly recommended- will DEFINITELY PROTECT the machine from viruses and spy ware. But is a drain on resources and takes a long time to scan for threats. NOD32 Anti-Virus 1. Costs per year à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½29.95 (for updates + strong protection) 5/10 2. Antivirus Only 7/10 3. Regular Virii search speed 5/10 4. Tricky interface – set and forget style. 3/10 5. LOW power footprint 10/10 Total Score 30/50 Not so well known but very powerful anti virus system. Will DEFINITELY protect the machine from virii. Will not drain system resources too much and does quick scanning. The only real issues are the lack of Spy ware protection and the expensive price plans. Firewall Protection Firewalls control inbound and outbound traffic on either a network or an individual machine. This can be achieved by either software or hardware. Software is best for your situation. Software Suggestions Windows Firewall 1. Costs Nothing (other than buying windows [which is pre installed]) 10/10 2. Inbound Protection Only 4/10 3. Minimal Interface- set and forget style (with occasional alerts) 4/10 4. LOW power foot print 9/10 Total Score 27/40 The windows firewall is an effective and quite protective measure for securing a windows machine although it only has INBOUND protection, so if a virus is transmitting bad data, the WINDOWS firewall will not protect you. ZoneAlarm Firewall 1. The Free Version is FREE (although a pro version can be bought) 10/10 2. Inbound + Outbound Protection Alerts for each program 9/10 3. Complicated, but comprehensive interface (STOP BUTTON) 6/10 4. HIGH power footprint 4/10 Total Score 29/40 Zone Alarm- Firewall Specialists for a long time. Will protect both ways and will request permissions for every program it does not recognise. I highly recommend this software as it provides strong and reliable protection. Clean Up Tools Registry Doctor 1. This software costs money (à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½17.50) 3/10 2. This software fixes registry errors, backs up the system, and adjusts the registry for speed. 7/10 (the adjusting could be dangerous) 3. Power hungry – will take a lot of resources when operational. 4/10 4. Click and GO! Interface, although the system is complicated when It comes to advanced settings. 5/10 Total Score 19/40 Registry doctor – A often occurrence, simply because of the constant advertising everywhere. This software is a suitable enough solution for most people however I believe it has spy ware built into it, and would not recommend it. Quicksys RegDefrag 1. This software is freeware 10/10 2. This software is a registry defragmenter- it will only optimise it. 4/10 3. Will take little resources, runs in the background (like the vista defrag)6/10 4. Set and Forget interface, no real options and hides during operation 8/10 Total Score 28/40 Quicksys RegDefrag is a simple set and forget registry defragmenter and streamliner. I believe this is the better option, as it will pick up redundant keys as it goes however a lack of options somewhat limits this software. Disk Formatting Darik’s Boot and Nuke (â€Å"DBAN†) 1. This software is Free 10/10 2. This software will overwrite the Hard Drive with ZEROS however many times you ask it to. 8/10 3. The computer is busy during the Disk Format (low level physical format)3/10 4. Set and forget – it can take sometime. Limited options 5/10 Total Score 26/40 DBAN- it’s a popular and useful tool. It simply erases your hard drive at a low level. It is loud, and you cannot use your OS at the same time- It is a simple FREE, but has limited options. Windows formatting tool 1. This software is free with windows. 8/10 2. The software will perform a high level software format. 5/10 3. You can only format a drive that windows isn’t using. 3/10 4. You can format a drive to any FS type provided the disk supports it. 7/10 Total Score 23/40 Windows formatting tool isn’t very powerful, is noisy if formatting a hard drive, and is very slow. Although if doing a quick format it will be a bit quicker. You can use your OS, but incredibly slowly. Conclusion Based on the above statistics I would recommend this software: * NOD32 Anti Virus * Zone-Alarm PRO Firewall * QuickSys Reg De-Frag * DBAN – Boot and Nuke I have done my best to always provide a free alternative, but it will not always be the best option. You should make your own decision based, on the facts above, and the software manufacturer’s website. I put my faith into EVERY product I have mentioned. I hope this email will help you to decide what you need to use to make the computer you will shortly be receiving, the best machine for miles around!.

Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

What does the text highlight about the concept of belonging? The film tells a story seen through the innocent eyes of a 8 year old boy, Bruno, who is unsure of his place in the world. The most evident concept of belonging is his hitch in his transition from childhood to adulthood. Throughout the film, he faces the conflict between accepting the harsh â€Å"Jew-killing† reality of the world or stay immersed in his fantastical world filled with adventure. Bruno also feels alienated from society having been moved from Berlin to the countryside, resulting in his isolation. On another level, he must further decide his place and to whether support his Nazi father's actions and stay true to his â€Å"Fatherland† or stay a companion with Schmal, the 8 year old Jew that Bruno befriends. 5. What connections about belonging can you make between this text and your prescribed text? In Dickinson's poems, there is a sense of disconnection with society that the poet experiences due to her isolation and seclusion from the world. Similarly, Bruno, in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, experiences the same sense of disconnection due to his unsurity over what is right or wrong. He feels out of place and confused throughout the film as a result of his youth as well as his lack of knowledge about the hostile situation in the world. Also, where Dickinson regards her relationship with nature as the most dominant one in her life as depicted in â€Å"What mystery pervades a well†, Bruno does the same in reference to his relationship with the Jew child, Schmal. Like nature, Schmal is an enigmatic character which Bruno does not seem to fully connect throughout the film, largely due to physical barriers such as the electric fence and mental factors like the judgemental character of Lt. Kotler and his father. Lastly, Dickinson realises her importance and place in the world due to her seclusion. Likewise, for the boy Bruno, it is left for him only to decide where he belongs in the world despite his age. Throughout the film, although Bruno is fed Nazi propoganda, we realise that it is ultimately up to him to decide his alliances as what he sees in the world is not quite what people describe. . What techniques does the composer use to convey his/her idas about belonging? (techniques, example, explain) Through the use of camera angles, Herman illustrates a sense of alienation between Bruno and his surroundings. He achieves this with a low shot of the new home, overshadowing and looming over a timid and doubting Bruno. Furthermore, the first scene that we see in the new home is Bruno sitting on the stairs, behind full-length banister rails, suggesting a sense of entrapment within the house. The use of costuming in the blue and white striped â€Å"pyjamas† by Herman illustrates Bruno's innocence and his inability to comprehend what is right or wrong. He does not realise that the clothing is the uniform for captured Jews but as the film progresses, harsh reality soon overtakes his naive outlook of the world. The uniforms also represent how different the prisoners are to Bruno. Bruno's conflict between childhood and adulthood is further insinuated through the quote: â€Å"My dad's a soldier, but not the sort that takes people's clothes away. The use of dramatic irony suggests again Bruno's innocence and how he is still very much a child in what is a hostile, adult world. The character of Schmul represents the power and solidarity of human relationships. What was intially a temporary friendship becomes permanent when Bruno becomes filled with regret after he betrays Schmal. A shake of the hands through the electric fence suggests that a connection between Bruno and Schmal exists regardless of any barriers. Boy in the Striped Pyjamas Bruno’s diary Year 1943, age 9 years old as I was born on the 15th april 1934. Day one of strange happenings: Today I came home from school and maria was in my bedroom going through MY things – Even my secret things. She is just a servant but I tried to be polite when I asked what she thought she was doing. Maria never takes all my private things out, she puts things away like she’s supposed too. I asked mother why maria is packing my things but she won’t answer me properly. She just keeps saying we are all going away because of father’s job. She said I’ll have to say goodbye to my friends, my best long life friends.I don’t want to say goodbye to my friends because of father’s job. I know he’s important but why can’t father go by himself and come back later? It’s not fair. I still have lots of plans with my friends that I need to do. I wonder if grandma and grandfather are coming on this holiday too? We canà ¢â‚¬â„¢t really leave them behind†¦though I don’t mind if Gretel stays – shes hopeless. Gretel can look after the house so we can come back to it if this new one isn’t as good. I wonder if the other house has a big bannister like this one that I can slide down? I hope so because it’s my favourite thing to do.Day two of strange happenings: We are at the new house and it’s horrible! It only has three floors, not five like the other one and there are no other children around to play with. I don’t like this place but mother won’t take me back home, she says this is where we live now but I don’t want to live here. Gretel doesn’t like it either, or maria, so it definitely is a horrible place to live. I’ll just have to tell father what a mistake he’s made and then we can all go back home to berlin. Even the people here are scary and boring, like that man that came out of fathers room today.I don’t thin k I like him†¦he’s too serious. Maria says to steer clear of him anyway. Day three of the horrible place: I scared Gretel today when I showed her the weird children outside my window. She is three years older than me and quite scary, so scaring her isn’t an easy thing to do. I don’t know why she has come with us anyway, all she does is cause trouble. That’s what mother and father say anyway. At least her friends can’t come round anymore. She has horrible friends that call me six when I’m actually nine! She still has her dolls though.I bet they spy on me when I’m in her room, so I don’t go in there much. Gretel said father said we are going to stay here for the foreseeable future, whatever that means. Gretel thinks it’s about 3 weeks, so at least it isn’t a month I suppose. She doesn’t like this place either though so maybe we will move back sooner. Day four of the horrible place: The people outside my window are still there. Gretel thinks that we are in the countryside and that they must be farmers. I don’t think they are farmers though because there are no animals and the ground is all brown and dirty.It doesn’t look like a nice place anyway, there are soldiers shouting at people and for some reason everyone is wearing pyjamas. I wish Gretel knew who they were and would tell me. She’s the brightest girl in her class apparently. I found them though, so they are my people, not hers. I am a high and mighty king in my bedroom and they are my minions that Gretel can’t have. I shall have to ask father what they are doing there and why they don’t have baths. I’ll know more than Gretel then, even though she’s older. Day five:Father came to the house today. We had to leave earlier than father on the train. There were a lot of other people coming this way on the train too†¦but they were all on one big train squashed together. I donâ₠¬â„¢t know why they didn’t just come on the same train as us because we had lots of empty seats they could have used. I was very brave today and asked father when we were going home because it’s horrible here. I thought father would get very angry because I’m not supposed to go into his office or waste his time saying hello or asking silly questions.Father said we have to do things we don’t like though because other people know what’s best for us. He said we have to accept the situation we find ourselves in and then everything will become easier†¦or something like that. I still don’t like it here though and it will never be home. I don’t know why father can’t see that he’s made a mistake. I even told him to apologise to the fury and then we can go back to berlin. Father is a very respectable man but I still think he is wrong. Why doesn’t he just listen to us instead of his job? Extract from chapter 12, pages 128 – 129 †¦we had to move to a different part of Cracow, where the soldiers built a big wall and my mother and father and my brother and I all had to live in one room†¦Ã¢â‚¬ËœThere was one small window in it but I didn’t like to look out of it because then I would see the wall and I hated the wall because our real home was on the other side of it. And this part of town was the bad part because it was always noisy and it was impossible to sleep†¦Ã¢â‚¬ËœThen one day the soldiers all came with huge trucks†¦ And everyone was told to leave the houses. Lots of people didn’t want to and they hid wherever they could find a place but in the end I think they caught everyone.And the trucks took us to a train and the train†¦ The train was horrible†¦ There were too many of us in the carriages for one thing. And there was no air to breathe. And it smelled awful. ’ Shmuel’s exposition provides necessary background information that a llows the reader to identify with the character. In this particular extract, the author conjures a lot of imagery to convey emotion and mood, which is implemented through structural and lingual techniques. Ellipses are used repeatedly throughout the extract, creating a pause, which causes the reader to consider and empathise with the characters ordeal.It also contributes to the rhythm of the paragraph, setting a slow and deliberate pace, evoking heightened emotions of fear and apprehension. The simplistic language, combined with alliteration delivers a childlike and innocent approach, which draws sympathy from the reader in relation to the child’s traumatic experience. For example, the ‘soldiers built a big wall’ contrasts against shmuel and his family living in a small room, emphasising how small and vulnerable they are. The use of repetition such as the train is effective in this extract, as it creates a sense of urgency and distress, helping to set a desponden t atmosphere.This atmosphere is intensified with short sentences and a hyperbole toward the end of the paragraph (There was no air to breathe) for a dramatic impact. The boy in the striped pyjamas is a fable based on the holocaust. The protagonist of the story, Bruno, comes home from school one day to find his belongings packed and told to say goodbye to his friends due to his dads promotion. Mourning his old home Bruno sets out exploring areas he shouldn’t – his naivety and inquisitive innocence, lead him to the outskirts of a concentration camp, where he befriends a boy just like himself, albeit religious boundaries.It is this friendship between two young boys that leads to a cruel twist of fate. The hamartia of bruno, in this case his innocence, leads to his downfall. It is somewhat ironic, that the innocence and accepting nature of a child is essentially a weakness that leads to a cruel fate, whilst those that deserve misfortune are without tragedy. It also conveys a moral, classifying this book as a fable. In relation, Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare share the same themes as the boy in the striped pyjamas.Innocent characters lose their lives unnecessarily because of events that are out of their control, caused by prejudice and discrimination. Another similar feature between the two novels is that Shakespeare uses dynasties/houses to create differences and segregation between parties. In correspondence, the author of the boy in the striped pyjamas, uses clothes to create differences and symbolise their status in society. For example, the striped pyjamas indicates inferiority, weakness and suffering of the jews, whilst the uniforms of the soldiers uphold authority, cruelty and dominance.As opposed to Shakespeare, what makes this book so despairing and emotive is the reality of it. It is not a romantic, fictional play based on lust and fate – it is representative of real events where horrific tragedy’s took thousands of in nocent lives for reasons due to nothing but social status, discrimination and prejudice. It can be argued, that such events would not have occurred in reality; firstly, historical records show that more than 6000 soldiers were present in the aushwitz camp, making it unlikely that a child could escape their notice to sit at the edge of a camp and talk to an outsider.Secondly, most women and children were gassed upon their arrival, leaving the men to work. Another point raised, is that most credible 9 year olds have a lot more common sense in reality than is portrayed in this fable. Boyne’s story depends on the overwhelming naivety of his character, who is completely oblivious to the war despite his father working for Hitler. In conclusion, for a short fable aimed at children, I believe it to be a powerfully emotive tale that strikes key points. The innocence and reality of the events that took place in the book make it that much more touching, horrific and powerful.

Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals Essay

1. Visit the websites of companies like Wal-Mart, Dell and Home Depot, and see if you can find discussions of their supply chain management activities. List information you can find on purchasing/supplier issues, logistics, information systems, quality and customer service. Purchasing/supplier issues: Wal-Mart always emphasized the need to reduce its purchasing costs and offer the best price to its customers. The company procured goods directly from manufacturers, bypassing all intermediaries. Wal-Mart was a tough negotiator on prices and finalized a purchase deal only when it was fully confident that the products being bought were not available elsewhere at a lower price. Wal-Mart spent a significant amount of time meeting vendors and understanding their cost structure. By making the process transparent, the retailer could be certain that the manufacturers were doing their best to cut down costs. Once satisfied, Wal-Mart believed in establishing a long-term relationship with the vendor. In its attempt to drive hard bargains, Wal-Mart did not even spare big manufacturers like Procter & Gamble. However, the company, generally, preferred local and regional vendors and suppliers. Logistics: An important feature of Wal-Mart’s logistics infrastructure was its fast and responsive transportation system. Wal-Mart maintained a strict vigil over its drivers by keeping a record of their activities through the â€Å"Private Fleet Driver Handbook†. The purpose of the book was to educate the drivers with regard to the code of conduct. Non-compliance to the hand book would result in the termination of the driver. To make its distribution process more efficient, Wal-Mart also made use of a logistics technique known as ‘cross docking’. In this system, the finished goods were directly supplied to the customers. The system reduced the handling and storage of finished goods, virtually eliminating the role of the distribution centers and stores. Information Systems: Wal-Mart invested heavily in IT and communications systems to effectively track sales and merchandise inventories in stores across the country. With the rapid expansion of Wal-Mart stores in the US, it was essential to have a good communication system. Wal-Mart set up its own satellite communication system in 1983. They were able to reduce unproductive inventory by allowing stores to manage their own stocks, reducing pack sizes across many product categories, and timely price markdowns. Instead of cutting inventory across the board, Wal-Mart made full use of its IT capabilities to make more inventories available in the case of items that customers wanted most, while reducing the overall inventory levels. The order management and store replenishment of goods were entirely executed with the help of computers through the Point-of –Sales (POS) system. Through this system it was possible to monitor and track the sales and merchandise stock levels on the store shelves. Quality and Customer Service: When Sam Walton started Wal-Mart in 1962, he felt that each Wal-Mart needed to reflect the vision of the community and the values of each customer. This way of doing business became the Wal-Mart organizational culture. Organizational culture is what a company values and this value reflects on how companies conduct their business. According to Time magazine’s website, Sam Walton believed that if you work toward excellence and show passion with your work, you will gain a loyal customer base. Wal-Mart trains employees on how to problem solve and develops each employee to focus on pleasing the customer. The slogan of â€Å"satisfaction guaranteed† is something that Wal-Mart says it takes seriously. Wal-Mart says it trains employees to ask customers if they need assistance or tutorials on how a particular product functions. Another function of Wal-Mart customer strategies is having greeters at the door of every store. Wal-Mart management feel that if customers are greeted by a friendly face, this enhances their shopping experience. Wal-Mart says it spends time and money on its employees to ensure that the philosophy of Sam Walton is instilled into each new employee. According to the Wal-Mart website, Wal-Mart trains its employees on excellent customer skills. Wal-Mart believes that if customers gets what they want at a good price, this will keep them coming back to the store. 2. Search on the term supply chain management. How many hits did you get? Describe five of the websites found in your search. How many hits?- only 247,000,000 5 of the websites–What is Supply Chain Management? Describing what supply chain management is. — The hot new M.B.A.: Supply-Chain Management. Goes into how universities have recently introduced undergraduate majors for supply chain management. — Council of Supply Chain management Professionals: Homepage. They provide education, research, connections for supply chain management. — Module 1: What is Supply Chain Management? It’s a YouTube video introducing viewers to the field of SCM. — Supply Chain Management Certificate. Describes what SCM is and offers advanced professional supply chain management certificate. 3. Go to www.agrichain–centre.com (or a similar website found when searching on New Zealand supply chain management), and discuss the current state of supply chain (or value chain) management in New Zealand. – I went to the site I didn’t see anything on the current state of supply mgmt.. 4. Search for the term bullwhip effect and write a paper on the impacts of the bullwhip effect and the companies profiled in the papers you find. IMPACTS OF THE BULLWHIP EFFECT From the case study, in the early 1990s, P&G faced a problem of extreme demands variation for its Pamper diapers. Although the purchase rate somehow remain steady at the customer end, it has been found that the variation of order rates amplify up the supply chain, from the retailer level to the distributor level. This phenomenon is called bullwhip effect, and the distorted information from one end of a supply chain to the other can lead to tremendous inefficiencies, such as excessive inventory investment, poor customer service, lost revenues, misguided capacity plans, inactive transportation, and missed production schedules. What happens when a supply chain is plagued with a bullwhip effect that distorts its demand information as it is transmitted up the chain? In the past, without being able to see the sales of its products at the distribution channel stage, HP had to rely on the sales orders from the resellers to make product forecasts, plan capacity, control inventory, and schedule production. Big variations in demand were a major problem for HP’s management. The common symptoms of such variations could be excessive inventory, poor product forecasts, insufficient or excessive capacities, poor customer service due to unavailable products or long backlogs, uncertain production planning (i.e., excessive revisions), and high costs for corrections, such as for expedited shipments and overtime. HP’s product division was a victim of order swings that were exaggerated by the resellers relative to their sales; it, in turn, created additional exaggerations of order swings to suppliers. P&G still need to be careful when use the information sharing, because it is only an initial step to reduce the bullwhip effect within a supply chain, if use it from other stages continuously will lead to other problems. For instance, the POS data for a cosmetics store of P&G is not useful for suppliers of Pamper diapers. Moreover, if P&G cannot ensure its short order lead time, information sharing could be redundant because its supply chain is not capable of capitalizing on that information. Coordination in the supply chain is the next primary technique. Besides the Vendor-Managed Inventory (VMI) which P&G has already applied, the Collaborative Planning, Forecasting, and Replenishment (CPFR) could also be used to moderate the bullwhip effect, as well as to reduce cost. Finally, the generous return policies that manufacturers offer retailers aggravate gaming. Without a penalty, retailers will continue to exaggerate their needs and cancel orders. Not surprisingly, some computer manufacturers are beginning to enforce more stringent cancellation policies. The bullwhip effect results from rational decision making by members in the supply chain. Companies can effectively counteract the effect by thoroughly understanding its underlying causes. Industry leaders like Procter & Gamble are implementing innovative strategies that pose new challenges: integrating new information systems, defining new organizational relationships, and implementing new incentive and measurement systems. The choice for companies is clear: either let the bullwhip effect paralyze you or find a way to conquer it. 5. Search on the term supply chain Management software applications, and write a paper about how companies use these to improve their financial performance. Software Application Improve Supply Chain Management Financial Performance Supply chain management software is possibly the most fractured group of software applications on the planet. Some vendors have assembled many different chunks of software together under a single roof, but no one has a complete package that is right for every company. For example, most companies need to track demand, supply, manufacturing status, logistics (i.e. where things are in the supply chain), and distribution. They also need to share data with supply chain partners at an ever increasing rate. While products from large ERP (enterprise resource planning) vendors like SAP’s Advanced Planner and Optimizer (APO) can perform many or all of these tasks, because each industry’s supply chain has a unique set of challenges, many companies decide to go with targeted best of breed products instead, even if some integration is an inevitable consequence. It’s worth mentioning that the old adage about systems only being as good as the information that they contain applies doubly to SCM. If the information entered into a demand forecasting application is not accurate, then you will get an inaccurate forecast. Similarly, if employees bypass the supply chain systems and try to manage things manually (using the fax machine or spreadsheets), then even the most expensive systems will provide an incomplete picture of what is happening in a company’s supply chain. Effective supply chain management boosts profitability by systematically reducing the overall costs associated with goods and services. Using SCM Software could increase the return on your investment by using the same principles that are used in big software companies abilities; increase quality, speed production, and reduce costs, and extending them to your supply network. You collaborate with your suppliers in real time, improving the relationships and the overall management of your supply chain. SCM software manages the entire process, from requisitioning to purchase order creation, receiving, invoice payment, and the tracking of supplier performance. It supports high-volume repetitive deliveries with supplier schedules specifying date and hour of delivery. Long term plans can be shared with suppliers allowing them to order raw materials, plan production, and arrange deliveries based on accurate, reliable data. SCM software helps to avoid the costly fines and penalties associated with defaults on regulatory compliance by maintaining the global knowledge necessary to fulfill cross-border transactions within governmental and customs regulations. Supply chain management (SCM) is the process of planning, implementing, and controlling the operations of the supply chain as efficiently as possible. Supply chain management goes into improving the way a company finds the raw components it needs to make a product or service and deliver it to customers. Using supply chain management software and tools can bring greater speed and accuracy to the way a company do business thereby saving you time and money. 6. Search on green supply chains, and write a paper regarding the global regulatory status of environmental legislation and how it is impacting supply chain management. Impact of Environmental Legislation on Supply Chain Management One of many challenges in environmental management is compliance with new environmental regulations. For instance, the EU recently requested all electrical and electronic products being exported to the region to follow the restrictions of hazardous substances (RoHS) directives in order to reduce certain substances used in products. Another regulation, waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), aims at promoting reuse, recycling, and other forms of recovery in order to reduce the waste. Those regulations presented unprecedented challenges to international supply chains. Failing to comply with the regulations could result in loss of sales and reputation. For instance, in 2001, over one million SONY Play Stations were rejected by Dutch customs for containing environmentally hazardous substances. From the perspective of supply chain management, environmental regulations impose immediate pressure on manufacturing firms from different countries along a supply chain to work together to ensure the elimination of any hazardous substances. As component suppliers revamp their products, contract manufacturers retool their manufacturing lines, and OEMs redesign many of their products. There is an unprecedented level of change in international supply chains because of this new wave of environmental movements. In the case of regulation compliance, many small manufacturers from developing countries lack the necessary experience and resources to respond to new environmental requirements imposed by downstream partners from developed countries. As developed countries move toward higher value-adding products and services, developing countries would assume a larger share of manufacturing functions in the global supply chain, thereby shouldering greater environ- mental burden. Whether supplier resistance will stymie progress toward green supply chain management is critical to compliance with environmental regulations. Currently, the practices of, and barriers to various supply chain parties to cope with environmental regulations are not fully understood. It is possible that the trend of globalization and the enforcement of regulations have increased the impact of â€Å"industry† on green manufacturing practices. More studies should be conducted to re-examine the effects of the cultural and industry factors. Effort is made to ensure the quality of this case study. For example, the study selected theoretically useful cases, used multiple investigators and respondents, conducted reliability and validity tests, collected multiple sources of evidence, and systematically searched for cross-case patterns. There are still some potential shortcomings regarding the generalization of the findings. For instance, the findings confirm the value of green partnerships but not the specific involvement of individual supply chain parties. African Journal of Business Management Vol. 5(26), pp. 10601-10614, 28 October, 2011 Available online at http://www.academicjournals.org/AJBM DOI: 10.5897/AJBM11.518 ISSN 1993-8233  ©2011 Academic Journals Lee, Hau L., V. Padmanabhan, and Seungjin Whang. â€Å"The Bullwhip Effect In Supply Chains1.† Sloan management review 38.3 (1997): 93-102. i[ii] J. D. Sterman, â€Å"Modeling managerial behavior: misperceptions of feedback in a dynamic decision making experiment,† Management Science, vol. 35, pp. 321–339, 1989. ii[iii] Lee, H.L., V. Padmanabhan, and S. Whang. â€Å"Comments on ‘Information Distortion in a Supply Chain: The Bullwhip Effect,’† Management Science, 50(12), 1887-1893, 2004. iii[iv] Wilck, Joseph H. â€Å"Managing the Bullwhip Effect.† Unpublished Ph. D. Dual Degree, Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, College of Engineering (available at< http://www. engr. psu. edu/symposium2006/papers/Session% 203D% 20-% 20Modeling% 20and% 20Engineering% 20Applications/Wilck. pdf>, accessed July 2009) (2006). iv[v] Gilbert, K. â€Å"An ARIMA Supply Chain Model,† Management Science, 51(2), 305-310, 2005. v[vi] Chopra, S. and P. Meindl. Supply Chain Management. Second Edition, Prentice Hall, 478-504, 2004. vi[vii] [4] Dejonckheere, J., S.M. Disney, M.R. Lambrecht, and D.R. Towill. â€Å"Measuring and Avoiding the Bullwhip Effect: A Control Theoretic Approach,† European Journal of Operational Research, 147, 567-590, 2003. vii[viii] Chen, Frank, et al. â€Å"Quantifying the bullwhip effect in a simple supply chain: The impact of forecasting, lead times, and information.† Management science 46.3 (2000): 436-443. 1. This initiative was engineered by Kurt Salmon Associates but propelled by executives from a group of innovative companies like Procter & Gamble and Campbell Soup Company. See: Kurt Salmon Associates, â€Å"ECR: Enhancing Consumer Value in the Grocery Industry (Washington, D.C.: report, January 1993); and F.A. Crawford, â€Å"ECR: A Mandate for Food Manufacturers?† Food Processing, volume 55, February 1994, pp. 34–42. 2. J.A. Cooke, â€Å"The $30 Billion Promise,† Traffic Management, volume 32, December 1993, pp. 57–59. 3. J. Sterman, â€Å"Modeling Managerial Behavior: Misperception of Feedback in a Dynamic Decision-Making Experiment,† Management Science, volume 35, number 3, 1989, pp. 321–339. 4. Sterman (1989); and P. Senge, The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization (New York: Doubleday/Currency, 1990). 5. For a theoretical treatment of this subject, see: H.L. Lee, P. Padmanabhan, and S. Whang, â€Å"Information Distortion in a Supply Chain: The Bullwhip Effect,† Management Science, 1997, forthcoming. 6. M. Millstein, â€Å"P&G to Restructure Logistics and Pricing,† Supermarket News, 27 June 1994, pp. 1, 49. 7. V. Carroll, H.L. Lee, and A.G. Rao, â€Å"Implications of Salesforce Productivity, Heterogeneity and Demotivation: A Navy Recruiter Case Study,† Management Science, volume 32, number 11, 1986, pp. 1371–1388. 8. Salmon (1993). 9. P. Sellers, â€Å"The Dumbest Marketing Ploy,† Fortune, volume 126, 5 October 1992, pp. 88–93. 10. P. Kotler, Marketing Management: Analysis, Planning, Implementation, and Control (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1997). 11. R.D. Buzzell, J.A. Quelch, and W.J. Salmon, â€Å"The Costly Bargain of Trade Promotion,† Harvard Business Review, volume 68, March–April 1990, pp. 141–148. 12. Sellers (1992). 13. Ibid. 14. Lee et al. (1997). 15. L. Lode, â€Å"The Role of Inventory in Delivery Time Competition,† Management Science, volume 38, number 2, 1992, pp. 182–197. 16. Personal communication with Hewlett-Packard. 17. K. Kelly, â€Å"Burned by Busy Signals: Why Motorola Ramped up Production Way Past Demand,† Business Week, 6 March 1995, p. 36. 18. Rory J. O’Connor, â€Å"Rumor Bolsters IBM Shares,† San Jose Mercury News, 8 October 1994, p. 9D. 19. M. Reid, â€Å"Change at the Check-Out,† The Economist, volume 334, 4 March 1995, pp. 3–18. 20. A. Clark and H. Scarf, â€Å"Optimal Policies for a Multi-Echelon Inventory Problem,† Management Science, volume 6, number 4, 1960, pp. 465–490. 21. E.K. Clemons and M. Row, â€Å"McKesson Drug Company — A Strategic Information System,† Journal of Management Information Systems, volume 5, Summer 1988, pp. 36–50. 22. Millstein (1994). 23. T. Smart, â€Å"Jack Welch’s Cyber-Czar,† Business Week, 5 August 1996, pp. 82–83. 24. G. Stern, â€Å"Retailers of P&G to Get New Plan on Bills, Shipment,† Wall Street Journal, 22 June 1994. 25. Reid (1995). 26. H.L. Richardson, â€Å"How Much Should You Outsource?,† Transportation and Distribution, volume 35, September 1994, pp. 61–62. 27. Z. Schiller, â€Å"Ed Artzt’s Elbow Grease Has P&G Shining,† Business Week, 10 October 1994, pp. 84–86. 28. R. Mathews, â€Å"CRP Moves Towards Reality,† Progressive Grocer, volume 73, July 1994, pp. 43–44.

Panera SWOT Essay

A SWOT Analysis is a â€Å"situational in which internal strengths and weaknesses of an organization, and external opportunities and threats faced by it are closely examined† to provide an adequate strategy (http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/SWOT-analysis.html). Panera Bread Company has become one of the leading companies in the quick casual restaurant market. Strengths The Strengths that Panera Bread Company has are the following: a strong presence in its niche segment, a strong relationship with their franchisees, they focus on having a specialty bread and robust financial performance. In 2008, the company operated in 1,252 bakery-cafes in 38 American States and Canada. Panera Bread Company’s success relies on the strategy of quick service and high quality food. According to Wall Street Journal, Panera scored the highest with customer loyalty in their market niche. In 2007, Sandleman & Associates Quick-Track â€Å"Awards of Excellence,† put Panera Bread Company as one of the top chain restaurants for the sixth consecutive year. They have a very strong brand image, which also contributes to their success. Panera Bread Company has a strong relationship with their franchisees. It expects to operate 256 additional franchisees or area developers from their 725 franchise-operated bakery-cafes. Panera primarily operates through franchise agreements throughout the United States and this positive relationship that headquarters has with these companies has led to their success. This aids the growth of the company. The company has a high focus on being a specialty bread store. Panera Bread Company produces Artisan breads. Artisan bread utilizes natural ingredients with skilled attention, which differentiates the company from commercial competition. This helps the company become secure in its segment of the market. Panera Bread Company has had robust financial performance. Its revenues increased by 21.8% from 2007 to 2008. The companies net profit increased by 17.4% from 2007 to 2008. This continued growth provides the company with a positive future. The company also purchased 51% of the outstanding stock of Paradise. Weaknesses Panera Bread Company has highly concentrated geographic operations, meaning the company is confined to operating in North America. This is a problem because if a change in state taxes could bring a risk to the market concentration. It also loses the opportunities that their competitors will have to establish themselves in foreign markets. The company does not operate in the Asia-Pacific region or Europe-Africa, which could be potential areas they could benefit from. Another weakness that Panera Bread Company has is its lack of scale. When compared to its competitors, Panera Bread Company has a lot smaller revenues. Companies such as Starbucks or McDonalds dwarf this company, in yearly revenues. Panera needs to expand to other regions to become a worldwide competitor. Opportunities The three opportunities that Panera Bread Company has are the following: controlling of operating cost, expansion to grow top line and growth demand for organic products. Panera decided to focus its menu primarily with breakfast and lunch. This is why the company removed the Crispani from its product line. The pizza like pastry was intended to attract a late afternoon to early evening consumer, but had little growth. The little growth was believed to be caused by the recession, which made the company have to focus its menu to two meals a day. The expansion of the company has created more geographic presence for top line growth. Panera Bread Company opened its first company in Toronto, Ontario in 2008. In that same year, the company opened 91 new bakeries. This will help give the company a better presence, but another region for expansion would be Europe and Asia. The growing demand for organic products is a huge opportunity for the company. The already natural ingredients in its Arti san bread make this an easy transition for the company. According to article created by Datamonitor titled â€Å"Organic Food in the United States,† the company had a compound annual growth rate of 17.9%. This opportunity would reflect positively on product sales for the company. Threats Panera Bread Company has four major threats to its success. The first threat to the company’s success is the highly competitive restaurant industry. The company has to compete in three different industries. Panera competes in the specialty food, quick service and casual dining retailers. It major  competition is Starbucks, McDonald’s, Einstein Noah Restaurant Group, Potbelly Sandwich Works and Yum! Brands. This competition could impact Panera Bread Company’s market share. The second threat to Panera Bread Company would be a disruption in the company’s supply. The company provides fresh dough to each location by temperature controlled vehicles. If there happens to be poor weather conditions, labor difficulties, technical issues or damage to any vehicles in the fleet, then the company could have shortage problem. Depending on how long there is a problem in the fleet; Panera Bread Company would see a decline in sales from those locations affected. The increasing popularity of vegetarian food is the third threat. â€Å"At an average growth of 9% per year, this market is projected to reach $1,700 million by 2010† ( http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=buh&AN=44704860&site=bsi-live). The increase of a preference of healthy, natural, and fat free food has created a very successful market. If Panera Bread Company does not adhere to this trend in the market, then they could be left behind by its competitors. The increase in the minimum wage is the fourth threat to Panera Bread Company. The steady increase in minimum wage has increased labor costs, which have impacted the company’s profit. Hopefully, the minimum wage remains at $7.25 because this is affecting overall administrative costs for the company.

Basic Finance :: Business Finance Analysis

The main purpose of studying finance is to gain an understanding of the financial performance of a company, corporation or industry. By looking at a company's financial performance, decisions can be made about many things by many different players. Corporations are rated by different agencies that examine financial records and potential for growth. Fitch ratings are a good example of this. My employer has an A++ Fitch rating. This high rating allows a non-profit company to borrow money at lower interest rates. In a publicly held company, which is one that has shareholders, the main concern is to keep the shareholders happy. Shareholders infuse corporations they believe in (usually based on financial performance) with capital. When a company is considered a poor financial risk, the public will not be in a hurry to buy its stock. So who is affected by finance? Shareholders, as mentioned previously, are the focus in publicly traded companies. They are not the only people who think about financials, however. The CEO, CFO and any other "C" position have accountability to report to the board about the financial performance of the company. Management is responsible for creating and maintaining both capital and operational budgets. Employees are required to maintain certain standards of productivity. Customers are affected by finances as well. Consider gas prices, and how increased costs in production are passed on to the consumer. When looking at a company's finances, there are essentially four items to consider: the income statement, the price earnings ratio, the balance sheet, and the statement of cash flows, (Block, 2005). The income statement is a tool used to measure profitability over a given period of time, i.e. quarterly, annual. The income statement evaluates the cost of producing goods or services and the money that was made as a result of selling those goods/services. Gross profit and net earnings are two key features to look at. The price earnings ratio measures the relative valuation of earnings, (Block, 2005). This is a way of looking at how your company's stock earnings compare to other companies both within and outside your industry. This ratio is affected by many variables like marketability, sales growth, and the debt-equity structure of a company.