Saturday, August 31, 2019

Family Ties Essay

â€Å"Lispector’s writing can often be interpreted as symbolic, yet it is at the same time highly sophisticated and original. Discuss a particular pattern in her imagery or symbolism and its effect on the reader.† Often authors write with symbolism to communicate a deeper idea then what they what is presented. Symbolism opens doors for readers to have the freedom of going in to find meaning. Most of the time they use objects, actions and characters to offer the readers more meaning for the story. Symbolism helps each reader to connect in their on personal way. Clarice Lispector, author of Family Ties, has a very unique path for usage of symbolism and imagery. It can be proven that Lispector uses animals to show her emotion, however she indirectly places it for the readers to open the door and search for the meaning. In the some of the short stories it can be concluded that the use of animals are to show her emotion but also play the role of presenting the everyday life struggle lesson being taught. Symbols are used almost everyday, even when it is not known to all. They can be used in to give readers a more enjoyable experience. Lispector takes her time to describe the setting and the animal presented, to create a visual picture in the readers mind. In the story The Chicken, it was simply only a chicken, without hopes or dreams, unaware of it’s destiny or capability and Sunday’s lunch main dish. In a rare instinctive spasm, it decides to escape flying over the fence. Now lunch-less the family starts to chase the direction-less bird. When the chicken gets caught there is still hope that it will live due do it laying an egg in the kitchen. Lispector takes such an simple story and turns it into a story with s significant symbol such as the chicken, to carry the emotion and keep it orignal. â€Å"Alone in the world, without father or mother, she ran, out of breath, concentrated, mute. Sometimes in her flight she would stand at bay on the edge of a roof, gasping; while the young man leaped over others with difficulty, she had a moment in which to collect herself. The she looked so free.† (Lispector, 50) In the above quotation it proves to readers that the chicken is in a life of loneliness and sadness. â€Å"Alone in the world† phrase catches the readers attention to feel sympathic but quickly changes to â€Å"free† where they feel happy and joy for the chicken. Lispector does this to keep it interesting and effective for the reader to follow along. In the last sentence of The chicken, Lispector says; â€Å" Until one day they killed her and ate her, and the years rolled on.† (52). The readers are then defeated in making an effort to solve a myth, because Lispector suggests that there is, after all, no meaning to this chicken’s life, and hence no meaning to our own. The buffalo is appreiated for its main character and her complex feelings, an undistinguished women who is regretting her past because of a preivous break up. Lispector choses a springtime afternoon in a zoo to settle her resentment. Nowhere in the search at the zoo of life among the lions, giraffe, hippopotamus, monkeys, ape, elephant, camel, and coati could she find hatred or anger. In fact, she finds it easier to love and to be compassionate than to hate. This roller coster of emotions in the story starts with a women who has a struggle but overcomes it with the happy emotion of each animal. â€Å"I love you, she said, out of hatred then for the men whose great and unpunishable rime was not loving, â€Å"I hate you, she said imploring love from the buffalo.† (156) Lispector in this quotation shows the overcoming of hatred of men as she see’s that men can be innocent. The women soon becomes eye locked with the buffalo as she learns to love again. She has felt a lot o f sentiments but never hatred of man until she meets the huge, black, hairy buffalo, whose eyes reflect back â€Å"mutual assassination.† How she responds to this recognition is quite interesting. The buffalo has the effect on the reader that emotions can be changed based on trust and that being jugdemental and grouping something together isnt going to help anything. Once again she proves a lesson with the use of animals and emotion. In conclusion, Lispector does use the method of animal imagery and emotion to help build her stories with meaning and excitment. Rather than the author just clearly stating thoughts, it is much more effiecent and allows the author to draw more attention by adding symbolic meaning, however Lispector’s stories are still orignal with complications. Each short story including the use of animals to convery thoughts has an effect on the reader.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Response Essays Essay

Response to: Foul Shots In Foul Shots, Rogelio R. Gomez writes about his Chicano background and the neighborhood he grew up in. Furthermore, he describes himself being stereotyped as one of the â€Å"barrio boys† basically meaning that he is considered inferior to the Anglos. In high school, the writer states that he was on a basketball team and that there was one day when his coach announced that his team was to â€Å"buddy up† with the opposite team. The opposite team was all White and therefore had a big conflict with the â€Å"barrio boys† due to racism. One of the Anglos threw a bag of Fritos to the â€Å"barrio boys† as an insult because of the â€Å"Frito Bandito† commercial which was, at its time, very popular and involved a stereotyped â€Å"Mexican bandit† from the Western movies who would steal Fritos. Gomez states in his essay that this insult still persists in his mind after â€Å"more than 20 years† have passed because he still wonders what he should have done in the situation and always comes to a though in where he is crushing â€Å"a silly bag of Fritos. The title seems to go well with the whole theme of this essay and has two meanings on being that since they are on a basketball team and a â€Å"foul† in basketball is an illegal move and also using the meaning of the word â€Å"foul† as unfair; they are being compared in a sense. The Anglos in the essay are very stereotypical due to the fact that they threw a bag of Fritos at the â€Å"barrio boys† and treated them very rudely; they basically thought of them as â€Å"inferior† as stated in by the author. Something that can also be said in this situation; however, is that the stereotypical thoughts could be turned towards the Anglos implying that the Mexican-Americans discriminate towards them too. The reason why is because, in the essay, it says that the â€Å"barrio boys† tried to act like they were superior because of their â€Å"toughness† and how they played basketball much better than the Anglos, beating them at every game. This whole problem could have probably been prevented if the coaches took a different approach towards the conflicts between the two teams. Rather than having the two teams get together, which obviously magnified the problem, the coach should have talked to the students about the different ethnic backgrounds and how to deal with racism and stereotypes. Response to: The Happiest Day of My Life In the essay, The Happiest Day of My Life, a man by the name of Michael T. Smith worked in an office with large windows that were facing a busy overpass. One day, Smith decided to start waving at the people that would pass by. Smith started these â€Å"window antics† to bring joy and relieve the stress during work. Smith kept on waving to these people to the point where it became a daily routine. Eventually, his co-workers began to notice this and share the laughs he would get from waving at these people. Around Christmas time, it began to get stressful because of all of the job cuts and to help cheer everyone up, Smith decided to dress up as Santa Claus during work. When his supervisor found out about this, he called Smith into his office which made Smith become very nervous, especially during this time, but to his surprise, his supervisor couldn’t help but laugh and thanked him for what he had done to cheer everyone up. I personally thought that Smith was going to get warned not to do something like this again or he would lose his job because of the reaction given in which it says that his supervisor â€Å"†¦turned and left. † After a while, Smith began to see a bond growing between the people he would wave to, especially the bus riders, but didn’t realize how strong it was until the day when his daughter was born and they held up a sign saying â€Å"congratulations! †

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Barack Obama - Second Weekly Transition Address

Barack Obama Second President-Elect Weekly Transition Address Broadcast 15 November 2008 Today the leaders of the G-20 nations, a group that includes the worlds largest economies, are gathering in Washington to seek solutions to the ongoing turmoil in our financial markets. Im glad President Bush has initiated this process, because our global economic crisis requires a coordinated global response.And yet, as we act in concert with other nations, we must also act immediately here at home to address Americas own economic crisis. This week, amid continued volatility in our markets, we learned that unemployment insurance claims rose to their highest levels since September 11th, 2001. Weve lost jobs for ten straight months nearly 1.2 million jobs this year, many of them in our struggling auto industry. And millions of our fellow citizens lie awake each night wondering how theyre going to pay their bills, stay in their homes, and save for retirement.Make no mistake: This is the greatest economic challenge of our times. And while the road ahead will be long, and the work will be hard, I know that we can steer ourselves out of this crisis, because here in America we always rise to the moment, no matter how hard. And I am more hopeful than ever that America will rise once again. But we must act right now. Next week, Congress will meet to address the spreading impact of the economic crisis. I urge them to pass at least a down-payment on a rescue plan that will create jobs, relieve the squeeze on families, and help get the economy growing again. In particular, we cannot afford to delay providing help for the more than one million Americans who will have exhausted their unemployment insurance by the end of this year. If Congress does not pass an immediate plan that gives the economy the boost it needs, I will make it my first order of business as President. Even as we dig ourselves out of this recession, we must also recognize that out of this economic crisis comes an opportunity to create new jobs, strengthen our middle class, and keep our economy competitive in the 21st century. And that starts with the kinds of long-term investments that weve neglected for too long. That means putting two million Americans to work rebuilding our crumbling roads, bridges, and schools. It means investing 150 billion dollars to build an American green energy economy that will create five million new jobs, while freeing our nation from the tyranny of foreign oil, and saving our planet for our children. It means making health care affordable for anyone who has it, accessible for anyone who wants it, and reducing costs for small businesses. And it also means giving every child the world-class education they need to compete with any worker, anywhere in the world. Doing all this will require not just new policies but a new spirit of service and sacrifice, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other. If this financial crisis has taught us anything, its that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers. In this country we rise or fall as one nation, as one people. And thats how we will meet the challenges of this time together. Thank you. Source:Â  https://www.loc.gov/ Source: https://en.wikipedia.org

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

System analysis and design Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

System analysis and design - Essay Example Universities have been offering the courses to meet the increasing demand for professionals in data analysis. North Carolina State University that has been offering a similar course since it launched of the advanced degree program in analytics in 2007. In addition, the school is also expanding to meet the demand. Other universities too plan on launching the degree course. An example is the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas that plans on launching a master of science in business analytics program in the fall. There is also a growing interest in acquiring knowledge required in handling data as shown by the large number of people seeking enrolment in such programs. As the analysis above indicates, higher learning institutions have found it necessary to provide advanced degree courses in analytics to fill in the gap in society. There is a growing need to educate the society about the emerging trends in system analysis. In a rapidly changing information technology sector, a systems analyst must strive for professional improvement (Shelly and Rosenblatt 30). There is ongoing effort by universities and colleges to provide advanced courses in design to ensure that they fill up the gap that has been brought up by the demand for employees with skills and advanced training in analytics. Statistics, from North Carolina State University, indicate there are readily available and well-paying jobs available for those who graduate with big-data

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

The Purpose of the Financial Policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 21

The Purpose of the Financial Policy - Essay Example Coming to the month of May, the expenses go much down, making the net income to increase, hence an increase in the profit. This shows that the month was not much over-budgeted. On the month of June, the net expenses and deductions increase again drastically. This reduces the net income, in the same way, hence making the net profit be reduced. Even though the company does not realize a loss this month, the profit it gets is so much reduced when compared to the previous month.  Financial policy is criteria or procedure that describes a company’s choices as far as debt/ equity mix, currencies of denomination, maturity structure, the method of financing investment projects, and hedging decisions with a goal of maximizing the value of the firm to a particular group of stockholders.  The purpose of the financial policy is to minimize cost over a long period of time, providing citizens, investors and business owners with confidence when they know that there are strong, and consis tent financial policies in place to guide their businesses.  The benefits of a financial policy include the fact that the stakeholders are guided by certain rules and regulations, hence the gain of confidence in the business over a long period of time. It also enables people to receive payment at the time of service. The financial policy allows one to gain control over a financial system, this enables one to offer financial services to patients while minimizing possible confusions.

Monday, August 26, 2019

Performance Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Performance Management - Essay Example Performance management is a whole work system that begins when a job is defined as needed. It ends when an employee leaves your organization.† (Heathfield 2009). The main objective of performance management rating is to identify the performance level of each employee on the basis of some criteria. Here performance management rating scale for a front line employee is discussed. There are so many methods available for the evaluation of the performance of an employee. The best method which can be applied in this case is Paired Comparison method. Under this method a front-line employee is compared with each other front-line employees. The criteria that can be used for the comparison are communication skill, preventability, team work, quality of the work, dedication etc. The person who conducts performance management rating will be supplied with number of slips. Each of which contains a particular rating criterion and also the names of two employees. The rater marks across or in front of the name of the employee who is better than the other with regard to the given criteria and that employee will be given one point. The employee who got the highe st number of points is considered as better than others and ranked accordingly. This can be explained with the help of an example. Consider there are four employees namely A, B, C and D and criteria used is, say, interaction with customers. Here A is compared with B, C and D. How A is compared with B is shown below. Here A gets one point as he is better than B with regard to the criteria namely interaction with customers. In the same way A is compared with C and D. Same process is done with other employees also. There should be a continuous feed back from employees and also meeting should be conducted as and when required. Answer: Performance appraisal helps the organization in taking

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Three Major Problems in Nigeria Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Three Major Problems in Nigeria - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that developing countries face various problems leading to slow economic growth and other tribulations. It is the same problems, which lead to unemployment raising social issues, as well as sophisticated settlements. In as much as different countries employ varied strategies to counter the problems; they remain dominant as the countries lack proficient mechanisms. Majority of developing countries depend on developed countries a factor, which not only slows development but also exploit the available resources in the countries. Nigeria is one developing country, which faces diverse problems. Most African countries have a characteristic of political instability. This underscores the depth of development leaving people midst abundant resources with little development. In the past, many years, stagnation remains evident among many African countries due to political instability creating a rising tide of poverty, poor infrastructure and decaying o f public utilities. Nigeria gets described by scholars as an unfinished state, and a truculent African disaster, this is because of the abundant natural resources present in the country, which instead of improving the economic condition of the country, has propelled the vicious cycle of poverty. Nigeria is rich with enormous oil resources that warrant it a name of a giant African country. On the contrary, it remains a minute country due to the political instability of parochial leadership, which considers personal survival rather than national development.

How Management Teams can have a good fight Essay

How Management Teams can have a good fight - Essay Example The authors clearly explain their view on the impact of conflicts in the organization. This paper criticizes the authors’ idea on the conflict resolution among the management and the eventual impact on the firm. According to the authors, conflicts may have both negative and positive ending. Considering that most managers regard themselves as rational decision makers, they may not effortlessly accept an opinion from any other person and they may, perhaps, deem as a personal attack from their fellows when the colleagues make some remarks. It is difficult for most managers to make a distinction between personal differences and opinion peculiarity and maintaining the spirit of working as a team. The need to work as a team is sometimes assumed by managers as personal hostility and discord takes over the teamwork spirit. Fun, openness and productivity with no or less politicking and posturing represent the only way managers can come up with a healthy decision (Eisenhardt, Kahwajy & Bourgeois 78). Managers are required to manage their conflicts democratically with a clear distinction between substantive and personal issues. In managing interpersonal conflicts, executive were prepared with information that is more detailed and multiple alternatives to enhance the quality of their debate. Availability of more data, which are objective-based, compels managers to focus on issues rather than personal matters or useless arguments rooted in ignorance. Inadequate information makes management rely mostly in guesses and baseless assumptions, which does not help the firm. Reliance on facts reduces involvement on personal issues, thus, reducing interpersonal conflicts. In addition, administrators used humor and shared a common goal in debates while maintaining a balanced power structure. Furthermore, managers should be deeply involved in creating different options thus plummeting disagreement amongst decision-making participants which, in turn, promotes teamwork. Individua l commitment in decision-making is achieved when joint effort is put in creating a number of alternatives. The authors further assert that the more the number of choices made by management, the greater the chances of coming up with more appropriate options. By creating common goals in the teamwork, managers should outline their strategic options as collaborative rather than competitive while every individual must endeavor to achieve best possible solution for the group. Common goal does not imply uniform thinking but, rather, require everyone to have a clear vision towards a particular goal. Lack of common goal makes some members of the team think that they are in competition, thus, framing decisions as reactions to threat (Eisenhardt, Kahwajy & Bourgeois 80). Using humor in decision making by the team releases tension among the management team and upholds collaborative spirit by making the business fun. The excitement while in decision making process reduces stress and brutal compe tition. Interpersonal conflicts are greatly reduced by using humor as a tool to avoid hostile and stressful environment. Humor acts as a defensive mechanism by decreasing the team temperatures and blunting the threatening edge of negative information. Humor that has very positive effect on mood may allow communication of difficult information in a more tactful manner and less threatening way. Furthermore, humor may make people more

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Minimalism From Shaker Furniture to Oki Sato Research Paper

Minimalism From Shaker Furniture to Oki Sato - Research Paper Example Minimalism, today, has inspired millions of architects and designers around the world. While many have been exposed to minimalism in one form or another, very few understand and appreciate the underlying thought behind minimalism. Minimalism began as a very disjointed movement. It can be traced back to the time of the Shakers. The Shakers were basically a strong religious communal group of people who believed in simple living. Their belief of simple living extended to their architecture and furniture design which carried traced of minimalistic design. However, Minimalist design did not begin as a proper movement until the twentieth century. Minimalism in design gained momentum as a reaction towards Abstract Expressionism. It follows the principles of achieving more in less. Negative spaces in minimalist design are not feared; rather they appreciated by exposing them to bright white light. Oki Sato is one designer who appreciates the beauty of minimalism. For him, minimalism is beauti ful with its simple design. This paper will discuss the simplicity inherent in minimalistic design by exploring the characteristics of both ancient and modern minimalistic design. The Shakers represent the old minimalistic style while Oki Sato through his design studio, Nendo represent the modern take on minimalism. Because simplicity in design is straightforward, this paper displays the progression of minimalism from Shaker furniture to the more modern Oki Sato designs. The paper will first focus on defining the scope.

Friday, August 23, 2019

Manager Interview Activity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Manager Interview Activity - Essay Example - Rewarding tasks are interacting with guests that come in and meeting interesting people from all over the world. Most challenging is continuing to make sure the hotel continues to abide by the corporate franchise rules and regulations. People from corporate office will sometimes pop in for a night’s stay just to ensure everything is running smoothly and it can be tough on your nerves. More flexibility and time with family but most be available in emergency. -An open door policy with her employees. Everyone must know their tasks but then she has to sometimes delegate other people to do other jobs too in case someone calls in sick. She also said it’s important for everyone to know each other’s roles and to let them communicate in case they have schedule conflicts. Must be friendly and courteous to guests and must also reiterate to someone if a mistake is made or a problem needs solved. Holding quarterly staff meetings and sometimes meetings that are urgent just to identify a problem and discuss the solution of how it is going to work. Everyone from the housekeepers to the maintenance people and desk clerks know how to do each other’s jobs in case someone needs to fill in. - Getting attached to employees since it is a small branch and trying to find ways not to make them angry enough to quit. Halting any office gossip is also hard. Scheduling can be difficult. Not everyone is set but she remains flexible. -Be strong, friendly and respectful. Always look to bosses above you for help. Make sure you know the roles of others and are prepared to be motivated and also have to take responsibility for the whole branch. Any mistake made by an employee under her supervision reflects on her. When they mess up she gets called upon by people higher up. I was surprised to find out the manager was actually not formally educated and just had a high school diploma. When I discussed

Thursday, August 22, 2019

HIV Patients Should Have Equal Access to Kidney Transplantation Essay Example for Free

HIV Patients Should Have Equal Access to Kidney Transplantation Essay HIV infection may be obtained by patients receiving renal replacement therapy (RRT) through blood transfusions, renal allograft, sexual contacts, or needle sharing of drug addicts. Viral infection or HIV-associated nephropathy can cause renal failure. In the early 1980’s, prognosis of patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) was very low, and survival rate of HIV-infected individuals with ESRD was miserable. Accordingly, several people even doubted the worth of providing continuance dialysis to patients with AIDS. Due to progress in diagnostic techniques in serologic and viral markers of disease, and use of extremely efficient antiretroviral agents, the prognosis of HIV-positive individuals has radically improved. Today, skills and knowledge in hemodialysis are effective modes of therapy and many centers, though some are reluctant, are now starting to practice renal transplantation in HIV-infected patients. Human Immunodeficiency Virus HIV infects CD4+ T cells, making the immune system weak as these cells malfunctions. Abnormal activation ofCD8= T cells may contribute to the loss of both CD4+ AND CD8+ T cells through apoptosis, which may represent a major cause of infected and non-infected cell death in HIV infection. Many HIV-infected individuals proliferative responses to recall antigens, irradiated stimulator peripheral blood mononuclear cells from healthy, unrelated donors, or T cell mitogens (Roland Stock, 2003). HIV infection can worsen existing renal disease and can trigger pathologically distinct disease named HIV-associated nephropathy (HIVAN), a focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) associated with severe cystic tubular lesions, leading to chronic renal failure. Renal syndromes include: fluid and electrolyte malfunction, proteinuria, nephrotic disease, progressive azotemia, inflamed kidneys, and fast succession to end stage renal disease (ESRD). HIV-infected patients who developed renal disease have short survival span. Transplantation process may increase the risk of HIV-infected patients in accelerating the depletion and dysfunction of their CD4+ T cells, which may further result in the development of more serious and complicated disease, such as AIDS, making HIV replication harder to control. On the other hand, immunosuppression might reverse the immuno-pathology associated with HIV disease (Roland Stock, 2003). End Stage Renal Disease  When the kidney totally lost its ability to filter waste from the circulatory system, renal failure finally meet the end stage renal disease or ESRD, the final stage of nephropathy or the premeditated degeneration of the kidneys. In 1998, over eighty-six thousand patients received therapy for treating ESRD in the United States. Autonomously, Medicare expenditures rose to 12. 9 billion dollars from 12 billion in 1998. The total cost of ESRD program through medicare was 17. 9 billion and is now projected to be 28. 3 billion dollars by 2010 (Winsett et al, 2002). The most common causes of ESRD include diabetic nephropathy, systemic arteral hypertension, glomerulonephrities, and polycystic kidney disease. In the case of ESRD, GFR declines to less than 10mL/min/m2, once it declines to that level, the normal hemeostatic function of the kidneys can not be sustained anymore. Whatever the cause, if untreated, ESRD may cause severe infection and even death to the patient. When the kidney function decline to less than twelve percent to fifteen percent, the patient survival will depend on the kidney transplantation and the therapies associated to it (Winsett et al, 2002). Chronic Dialysis versus Kidney Transplantation According to the New England Journal of Medicine (1999), transplantation is superior in saving life than long-term dialysis. The mortality rates were analyzed among over 200, 000 patients who underwent dialyses for ESRD and only twenty-three thousand received a kidney. Based on the research, patients who undergo transplantation live twice more than the projected years of life of patients who remained on the waitlist having dialysis. A successful transplantation improves the quality of life and lessens the mortality rate for many patients. Moreover, it consumes less time and energy. However, this procedure may cause bleeding, damage, and infection to other organs inside the body, even death can occur. That is why after transplantation, patients must undergo immunosuppression process for a lifetime period to monitor signs of rejection (Berns, 2007). Despite the greater risks, when it comes to quality and length of life, a transplanted kidney is more preferred. It’s man over machine. Statistics Over ten thousand kidney transplantations are being performed each year on patients with ESRD. Records show that patients who undergo kidney transplantation live longer than those who are just taking dialysis; but eight to nine patients on the waitlist die every day due to scarcity of organs to be used in the transplantation. Cadaveric kidney supply has an average of more than two years to come, and only 15-20 % of patients in the list were granted to receive them. The condition of renal failure and what causes them have direct effects on the transplantation rates of patients. Individuals with cystic kidney disease (25. 5%), obstructive nephropathy (24. 9%), and glomerulonephrities (23. 2%) have the utmost successful transplantation rate while patients having diabetes (13. 3%) and hypertension (8. 5%) have the lowest rates (Wallace, 1998). Why transplantation should be considered in HIV-infected patients? Organ malfunction has been the principal grounds of morbidity and mortality of HIV-infected patients, AIDS-related complication is only secondary. Before, immunosuppression was thought to be an unconditional contraindication in the circumstance of HIV infection, now, it is gradually more valued that immune activation is a major aspect of HIV pathogenesis. Consequently, immunosuppression has advantageous effects in people with HIV infection through temperance of immune activation or reduction of HIV reservoirs. Some specific immunosuppressant agents also have antiviral properties or interact synergistically with certain antiretroviral agents (Roland Stock, 2003). Reasons for reluctance of performing Kidney Transplantation for HIV-infected patients: In a survey conducted to 248 renal transplant centers in The U. S. in 1998, 148 requires HIV testing of prospective kidney recipients and that the vast majority denies patients with HIV to undergo transplantation. Most centers believe that transplantation is not suitable for HIV-infected patients (Spital A. , 1998). Before, chronic dialysis was the only option for treating ESRD of HIV-infected patients for fear of increased morbidity and mortality due to therapeutic immunosuppression. The allocation of cadaver kidneys to these patients was also considered improper due to expected inferior patient graft survival (Anil Kumar et al. , 2005). Also, according to the research led by Professor Andrew Grulich from the University of the New South Wales’ National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Search (NCHECR), immune deficiency is responsible for the increased risk of contracting several types of cancer than the general population. HIV patients are eleven times more expected to develop Hodgkin’s lymphoma while there is almost four times the risk for those who had transplants (Staff Writers, 2007). Professor Grulich further proposed that people’s immune system must be maintained at a higher level through the use of anti-retroviral drugs. The main historical exclusion of HIV-infected patients with ESRD was rooted in the coherent basis that immunosuppression necessary for organ transplantation would aggravate an already immunocompromised state. Although there were numerous initial reports signifying worse outcomes after solid organ transplantation in HIV seropositive recipients, there have been reports as well suggesting there were no unpleasant effects of HIV infection on allograft survival (University of California, 2007). Indeed, there have been two reports of HIV-infected patients going through liver or renal transplantation who demonstrated normal graft function for at least eight years following the transplant. The HIV status of the two was unknown at the time of transplantation; therefore no endeavors were prepared to adjust immunosuppressive therapy. The distinction in these studies may recount to differences in the time of HIV acquisition, with those of longstanding HIV infection prior to transplantation having a faster end relative to those who acquired HIV infection at the time of transplantation. Regardless of standard cyclosporine-based immunosuppressive treatments, there was no proof of OI or progression to AIDS in the first eight years following transplantation (Roland Stock, 2003). There are multiple other reports of patients with HIV who had gone through transplantation and demonstrated long-term graft survival in the presence of immunosuppression with variable rates of developing AIDS or death. Six of eleven renal allografts were functioning at a mean follow-up of thirty-one months (Roland Stock, 2003). Effects of Immunosuppressant Agents In order to avoid rejection reaction of the body against transplanted organs, immunosuppressant drugs are being taken to block the immune system from attacking the transplanted organ and preserving its function. As side effect, these drugs can help in HIV progress to AIDS. However, recent studies show that these drugs can also contribute in the reduction of HIV. Inactive T lymphocytes serve as a vital reservoir for HIV regardless of HAART. Immunosuppression may affect the reservoir of HIV-infected cell that persist throughout HAART through reduction of cell-associated HIV by either direct inhibition of viral replication, potentiation of HAART effects, or exhaustion of infected cells and lessening in the accessibility of permissive target cells by preventing T-cell activation. Otherwise, improvement in viral reservoirs can be caused by reduced immune management of HIV-expressing cells (Roland Stock, 2003). Ethical and Medical Issues Organ shortage is one of the ethical issues in organ transplantation. One distributive fairness criteria is equal access which include length of time waiting (first come, first saved basis), and age (youngest to oldest). The supporters of this criteria has a strong belief that since kidney transplantation can save live, it is an important remedial practice and worth offering to anyone who needs it (Center for Bioethics, 2004). The second type is the maximum benefit, aiming to maximize the quantity of successful transplants. The maximum benefit criteria include medical need (the sickest people are being prioritized for a transplantable organ), and probable success of a transplant (giving organs to the person who will be most likely to live the longest). People who support the maximum benefit philosophy aspire to avoid the wasting of organs, which are quite scarce, so that the greatest benefit is derived from every available organ (Center for Bioethics, 2004). During the Pre-HAART era, HIV-infected patients have a very poor prognosis, many people believes that it would be a waste to use the limited supply of organ to those group of patients that is why many transplant centers are reluctant to practice the transplantation. However, now that the HAART has been launched and the mortality and morbidity rate has been decreasing, it would be unethical to withhold this option in the absence of evidence that it is either unsafe or ineffective. Advancement in HIV Therapy: HAART era Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) has been the primary improvement in the treatment of HIV-infected patients in the previous decade. Numerous studies and observations had proven that advantageous outcomes of HAART also include improvement of HIV-related renal complications. Virologic and histologic evidences imply that HIVAN perhaps the result of HIV-1 reproduction in the kidney. The potential relation of HIVAN with HIV-1 replication in the kidney is associated with epidemiologic and medical records showing that HAART may improve HIVAN. On the other hand, from nephrologist’s perspective, one effect of this achievement has been the emergence of new kidney diseases related to (1) enhanced management of the HIV infection and (2) the prospective nephroxicity of antiretroviral treatments. According to the studies of MD Roland and Stock, medical tests have confirmed apparent survival benefits linked with the use of protease inhibitor (PI)-containing or non-nucleoside reverse-transcriptate inhibitor (NNRTI)-containing regimens (HAART). Epidemiologic statistics show reduced mortality, hospitalization rates, and opportunistic infection (OI) incidence associated with HAART. There have been vivid decline in new AIDS-related OIs, the majority of which are now occurring in people with low CD4+ T cell counts and those who are not receiving medical care (University of California, 2007). Epidemiologic and modeling information sustain the clinical trial efficacy data, signifying that HAART has a considerable effect on medical result (Roland Stock, 2003). Survival Rate Using the United States Kidney Data System (USRDS) data, the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology analyzed and studied these inputs to find out whether recipient HIV serologic status remains the primary factor in graft and patient survival in modern clinical transplantation. Ninety-five percent of the HIV-infected patients survived after transplantation and only 4. 3% died. Although in the earlier USRDS studies of kidney recipients before the introduction of HAART, the results showed that HIV-infected recipients had a survival of eighty-three percent while the uninfected patients have eighty-eight percent survival rates. While endurance records of HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected patients is almost the same, selection bias may have occurred, prioritizing the healthier patients than HIV-infected individuals. Also, in the studies of MD Roland, data showed that graft survival and rejection rates of HIV-infected patients who had gone through transplantation were similar to those HIV-negative patients (Roland Stock, 2003). Studies and Observations Methods. This study aims to observe safety and success of kidney transplantation, and learn the effects of immunosuppressant treatments on HIV infection, with the approval of the Institutional evaluation board of two universities: the Drexel University College of Medicine and Hahnemann University Hospital. Forty-five recipients with HIV infection from February 2001 to January 2004 were observed. Patient inclusion criteria were maintenance of HAART, plasma HIV-1 RNA of 400 copies per milliliter, absolute CD4 counts of at least 200 cells per micro liter. Immunosuppressant treatment includes the use of basiliximab stimulation and maintenance with cyclosporine, sirolimus, and steroids while HAART was still being applied after the transplant. Biopsy detected acute rejection; methylprednisolone was used as a treatment. Every after twelve months, surveillance biopsies are being done and evaluations include testing for subclinical acute rejection, chronic allograft nephropathy, and HIVAN (Anil Kumar et al. 2005). Results. The results demonstrated that patients with HIV infection who maintained HAART are capable of increasing an immune reaction, as proven by twenty-five percent rejection rate, signifying allograft reactivity is preserved and that no immunosuppression will lead to allograft rejection. The data showed that the combination of HAART and low-dose immunosuppressant drugs is not associated with serious adverse effects (Anil Kumar et al, 2005). The records show one- and two-year patient survival rate of eighty-five percent and eighty-two percent respectively, in comparison to the reported fifty-eight percent and forty-one percent survival of patients on dialysis. The United States Renal Data System accounted a one-year death rate of 32. 7% in HIV patients uphold on dialysis. The graft survival in this series of HIV-infected recipients is comparable to the UNOS data on non-HIV recipients (Anil Kumar et al, 2005). The monitoring of combined immunosuppression and HAART due to major drug interactions needs thorough supervision and synchronized care of transplant professionals, pharmacists, and HIV specialists. The overall result of this study proves that kidney transplantation in selected HIV-positive patients who were maintained on effective HAART is safe and has higher one to two year patient survival compared to dialysis treatment of selected HIV patients. Actual graft survival in HIV recipients is equivalent to other high-risk groups. The patients observed didn’t developed AIDS or opportunistic infection caused by immunosuppressant agents. Therefore, positive HIV status should not be considered a contraindication for kidney transplantation in selected patients. Conclusion Ethical concerns and safety of transplantation and post-transplant immunosuppressant treatment in HIV-positive recipients advances radically in recent years. Due to improvements in morbidity and mortality, the safety of this complicated intervention was further evaluated. The preliminary outcomes are promising. Proper management and control of transplantation team will determine the success of the renal transplantation. Since many advancements and developments regarding the HIV therapy, kidney transplantation is now possible for HIV-infected patients as morbidity and mortality rate keeps on decreasing. Therefore, with all the results of the research studies and observations, there is sufficient evidence that can support the equal access of patients with HIV infection on kidney transplantation.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Tesco Rapidly Changing Environment Business Essay

Tesco Rapidly Changing Environment Business Essay Todays world is a rapidly changing place. Part of rapidly changing environment that managers face is the globalization of business. Management is no longer constrained by national borders. In order to function and to survive, organization has to interact constantly with the world outside. Developments across a range of factors will have an impact on your business or industry. Business environment is a set of political, economic, social and technological (PEST) forces that are largely outside the control and influence of a business and that can potentially have both a positive and a negative impact on the business. You need to understand how the external environment affects and influences the organization structure. In this situation for achieving high performance manager need to adapt an organization. In this report TESCOs business environment is describe here. Using SWOT and PESTLE analysis tool TESCOs business strategy clearly define. Introduction of TESCO Tesco was founded by Sir Jack Cohen in 1924. In 1919 Jack Cohen started to selling groceries in Londons markets. The Tea is the first product in which the brand name of Tesco appeared in 1920. So the name Tesco comes from the initials of TE Stockwell who was a partner in the firm of tea suppliers. The first store of Tesco was opened in 1929 in Burnt oak, Edgware. Today TESCO is one of the top three international retailers with 366,000 worldwide staff, more than 2500 stores in twelve countries which sales  £41.8 billion. The vision and philosophy of TESCO is that Every Little Helps is behind everything we do. The Corporate Social Responsibility policy objective is to earn the trust of customers by acting good services and good relation between customers and suppliers and by building goodwill. They doing this only for earn customers loyalty and it is core purpose of Tesco. Tesco has four types of store formats for instance, Tesco Metro, Tesco Express, Tesco superstore and Tesco Extra (24 hour) all of them provide different shopping experience but same outstanding value. Tesco sells both food and non-food items. The leading market position improves its brand image and it provides a platform to start private label brands. The items include food, CDs, Books, medicine, tobacco, fruits, vegetables, alcohol, clothes, toys and electrical goods. Tesco has an exciting brand name. It is related with the good quality, honest goods and services that characterize excellent value. A strong brand name and moreover the attractive customer preservation rates are helps the group to introduce more products under its own labels and allocate it to enter new markets. Tesco.com is one of the leading online grocery shopping services in the world and the fourth biggest online retailer in the UK. Amazon, Dell and Argos are placed in the first three positions. Tesco.com serves m ore than one million regular customers in the UK including households from both urban and rural areas. The group has developed tesco.com-only store, an online service, for the customer in the UK with limited accessibility to physical stores. Tesco operates three types of operations: The First one is UK operations; it is categorized by five formats which are different from size, location and products. The largest operation of UK is in new cast. In addition to food, it also operates in the non food fragment items including clothing, electrical goods, home entertainment, stationery, kitchen items and furnitures. The Second operation is outside UK. The other British retailers who tried to expand international business have failed but Tesco has been succeeding to build an international business. It started this operation in 2004. The Third one is Internet operations. In 1994 Tesco also started to operate internet and it is the first retailer in the world who offered home shopping service since 1996. It expanded online ranges as books, wine, movies and electrical goods. From the above information it is clear that although the performance of TESCO has been affected in some areas but it has still value in the market due to reput ation and name of TESCO in the market. However TESCO achieved its target in food sector. TESCO ltd has been survived through competition over the last four years in the market but still it is one of the largest retailer companies in the UK. SWOT ANALYSIS: SWOT analysis is a tool for auditing an organization and its environment. It is the first stage of planning and helps managers to focus on key issues. SWOT means Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Strengths and Weaknesses are internal factors. Opportunities and Threats are external factors. Strengths In global market place TESCO have secured commercial standing because of winning World Retail Awards in Year 2008. This can be used for marketing campaigns to drive advantage towards the demographic base for future growth and sustainability. In an environment where global retail sales are showing decline TESCO Group has published sales gain of 13% for UK markets and 26% growth in international markets. Tesco.com is the worlds biggest online supermarket. Tesco online now operates in over 270 stores around the country, covering 96% of the UK. With over a million households nationwide having used the companys online services, the company has a strong platform to further develop this revenue stream. Profits for Tescos operations in Europe, Asia and Ireland increased by 78% during the last fiscal year. The company has a strong brand image, and is associated with good quality, trustworthy goods that represent excellent value. Since acquiring number one ranking in 1996, Tesco has developed a successful multi format strategy that has accelerated its advantage. Its UK sales are now 71% larger than Sainsburys. Weaknesses: TESCOs position as a price leader in UK markets can lead to reduced profit margins in order to retain the key price points on must have commercial items. TESCO Finance profit levels were impacted through credit card arrears, bad debt and household insurance claims. One of Tescos weaknesses has been its failure to dominate the city centre marketplace. Although it has some prominent city centre stores, e.g. the Carlisle store in the North of England, it has failed to make them universal. Grocer outlets are not set up to operate as specialist retailers in specific areas of product which can be capitalized on by other smaller bespoke retailers. Opportunities: Statistics suggest TESCO is the third largest global grocer which indicates a level of buying power to ensure mainstream economies of scale. The acquisition of whoever provides the opportunity to develop the brand through Asia, specifically South Korea and further grow International markets for the group. The development of Tesco Direct through online and catalogue shopping will grow the use of technology. Providing non food based products with moderate to high margin returns and less focus on sales and margin per foot return to space. TESCO mobile have grown 0.25 million customers in 2008 and moved into profitable status suggesting further growth and development within this technological area can be developed. Threats: Food and non food items raw material cost is rising, will impact profit margins overall. In far East locations exporting restrictions on some non food product areas will reduce margin rates on products with already low margins. American and UK markets have been affected by economic concerns through the credit crunch. Lower available income will impact and strategic focus may need to change to lower priced basic products with less focus on higher priced brands suggesting a switch in price architecture. For TESCO, there is a persistent threat of takeover from the market leader Wal-Mart who has both means and motive to pursue such action. PESTLE analysis: In analyzing the macro-environment, it is important to identify the factors that might in turn affect a number of vital variables that are likely to influence the organizations supply and demand levels and its costs (Kotter and Schlesinger, 1991; Johnson and Scholes, 1993). Because of ongoing changes that impact the whole organization. PESTLE analysis categorizes environmental influences as Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal forces. The analysis examines the impact of each of these factors (and their interplay with each other) on the business. Using these results take advantage of opportunities and to make contingency plans for threats when preparing Business and Strategic plans. Political Factors: Tesco now operates in six countries in Europe in addition to the UK. Tescos performance is highly influenced by the political and legislative conditions of these countries, including the European Union (EU). For employment legislations, the government encourages retailers to provide a mix of job opportunities from flexible, lower-paid and locally-based jobs to highly-skilled, higher-paid and centrally-located jobs (Balchin, 1994). Also to meet the demand from population categories such as students, working parents and senior citizens. Tesco understands that retailing has a great impact on jobs and people factors, being an inherently local and labour-intensive sector. Tesco employs large numbers of student, disabled and elderly workers, often paying them lower rates. In an industry with a typically high staff turnover, these workers offer a higher level of loyalty and therefore represent desirable employees. Economical Factors: Economic factors are of concern to Tesco, because they are likely to influence demand, costs, prices and profits. One of the most influential factors on the economy is high unemployment levels, which decreases the effective demand for many goods, adversely affecting the demand required to produce such goods. These economic factors are largely outside the control of the company, but their effects on performance and the marketing mix can be profound. Although international business is still growing and is expected to contribute greater amounts to Tescos profits over the next few years, the company is still highly dependent on the UK market. Hence, Tesco would be badly affected by any slowdown in the UK food market and are exposed to market concentration risks. Social Factors: Current trends indicate that British customers have moved towards one-stop and bulk shopping, which is due to a variety of social changes. Tesco have, therefore, increased the amount of non-food items available for sale. UK retailers are also focusing on added-value products and services. In addition, the focus is now towards; the supply chain, the own-label share of the business mix and other operational improvements, which can drive costs out of the business. National retailers are increasingly reticent to take on new suppliers (Clarke, Bennison and Guy,1994; Datamonitor Report, 2003). The type of goods and services demanded by consumers is a function of their social conditioning. Consumers are becoming more and more aware of health issues, and their attitudes towards food are constantly changing. One example of Tesco adapting its product mix is to accommodate an increased demand for organic products. The company was also the first to allow customers to pay in cheques and cash at the checkout. Technological Factors: Technology is a major macro-environmental variable which has influenced the development of many of the Tesco products. The new technologies benefit both customers and the company: customer satisfaction rises because goods are readily available, services can become more personalized and shopping more convenient. Tesco stores utilize the following technologies: Wireless devices Intelligent scale Electronic shelf labeling Self check-out machine Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). The adoption of Electronic Point of Sale (EPoS), Electronic Funds Transfer Systems (EFTPoS) and electronic scanners have greatly improved the efficiency of distribution and stocking activities, with needs being communicated almost in real time to the supplier (Finch, 2004). Environmental Factors: In 2003, there has been increased pressure on many companies and managers to acknowledge their responsibility to society, and act in a way which benefits society overall (Lindgreen and Hingley, 2003). The major societal issue threatening food retailers has been environmental issues, a key area for companies to act in a socially responsible way. Hence, by recognizing this trend within the broad ethical stance. Tescos corporate social responsibility is concerned with the ways in which an organization exceeds the minimum obligations to stakeholders specified through regulation and corporate governance. (Johnson and Scholes, 2003) Graiser and Scott (2004) state that in 2003 the government has intended to launch a new strategy for sustainable consumption and production to cut waste, reduce consumption of resources and minimize environmental damage. The latest legislation created a new tax on advertising highly processed and fatty foods. The so-called fat tax directly affected the Tesco product ranges that have subsequently been adapted, affecting relationships with both suppliers and customers. Legal Factors: Various government policies and legislations have a direct impact on the performance of Tesco. For instance, the Food Retailing Commission (FRC) suggested an enforceable Code of Practice should be set up banning many of the current practices, such as demanding payments from suppliers and changing agreed prices retrospectively or without notice (Mintel Report, 2004). The presence of powerful competitors with established brands creates a threat of intense price wars and strong requirements for product differentiation. The governments policies for monopoly controls and reduction of buyers power can limit entry to this sector with such controls as license requirements and limits on access to raw materials (Mintel Report, 2004; Myers, 2004). In order to implement politically correct pricing policies, Tesco offers consumers a price reduction on fuel purchases based on the amount spent on groceries at its stores. While prices are lowered on promoted goods, prices elsewhere in the store are raised to compensate. Organizational Business Strategy: To produce great business performance it is necessary to turn strategies and plan into individual actions but it is not easy. Many companies repeatedly fail to truly motivate their people to work with enthusiasm, all together towards the corporate aim. Most companies and organizations know their businesses and strategies required for success. However many corporations especially large ones struggle to translate the theory into action plans that will enable the strategy to be successfully implemented and sustained. Formalization: Formalization is the extent to which rules and procedures are followed in an organization. This element varies across organizations. For example in some organization arrival and departure times to and from work are specified. In other organizations employees will spend sufficient time on the job to get the work done. In some organizations many rules are codified in huge manuals but no one pays attention to them. In others little is written down but rules are informally understood and followed. The most useful definition of formalization is that it represents the use of rules in an organization. The degree to which rules are followed not the degree to which they are codified. In Tesco shift type working system is there. Time punctuation is most important in Tesco. Each and every staff wears particular uniform. Specialization: Work specializations to describe the degree to which activities in the organization are subdivided into separate jobs. The essence of work specialization is that rather than an entire job being done by one individual it is broken down into a number of steps with each step being completed by a separate individual. In essence individuals specialize in doing part of an activity rather to the entire activity. In Tesco according to different positions different roles are there like general manager, purchasing manager, technical manager, finance manager, HR manager, customer service assistance etc. Hierarchy: In a hierarchical organization employees are ranked at various levels within the organization, each level is one above the other. At each stage in the chain, one person has a number of workers directly under them, within their span of control. The chain of command is a typical pyramid shape. A tall hierarchical organisation has many levels and a flat hierarchical organisation will only have a few. Tesco has a flat hierarchical structure with just six levels between checkout staff and chief executive. Each store manager is responsible for their store. External Environment: In retail Tesco is top of supermarket in UK. There are many competitors like Asda, Sainsbury. In current market position Tescos share is more than other retail company. Every year growth of Tesco is increase. In market position Tesco is stable. Culture: Tesco is now in international market. In Tesco many different culture people are working together not any obligation for culture and peoples value is same. In Tesco clear norms and value are there. Professionalism: Training is most important for every company. In some companies training is given by professional way while in small companies training is formal. Tesco gives high professional training. Goals and Strategy: Top management is to determine an organizations goals, strategy and design. Organizations mission is the official goal whereas in organization actually pursues, specific outcomes like resources, overall performance, market, employ development, innovation, productivity are operative goals. Strategy means plan for achieving organizational goals in competitive environment. Goals define where the organization wants to go, strategy how it will get there. Tescos main goal is to create value for customer to earn their lifetime loyalty. For achieving this goal Tesco do something new for customer. Tesco will remove plastic and paper bags. Size: Size of company is determined by number of stores it has and number of employees it has. It is also determined by revenue of company. It had revenue of 47.3 billion pounds for the year 2008. This made Tesco the fourth largest retailer of the world. Tesco is operating as 2318 stores and more than 326000 employees. Conclusion:

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

It is important to diferentiate between capital expenditure and revenue expenditure

It is important to diferentiate between capital expenditure and revenue expenditure Fixed Asset is last longer and not for resale. For example is premises, motor vehicles, machinery, and fixtures and fittings. Current Asset is liquid and bought for resale. For example is cash in hand, cash at bank, stock and debtor. i) Business entity concept is the affairs of a business are to be treated as being quite separate from the non-business activities of its owners. Example is the figure for fixed assets includes a camera that the owner of the business has bought for his own use. Accrual concept is concerned with the different between cash receipts and cash expenditure (actual payments and receipts of money for items) and revenue and expenditure. It states that items should be recorded when used and not when paid for. Example is a bill for electricity was received in the lost financial year but has been recorded in the current year as payment was only made recently. Going Concern Concept is it implies that the business will continue to operate for the foreseeable future. Example: the assumption should not be made are: If the business is going to close down in the near future Where shortage of cash makes it almost certain that the business will have to cease trading Business have to close down because of shortage of cash The term is about to close down as the owner is retiring the accounts have not been altered. Consistency concept is each firm should try to choose the methods which give the most reliable picture of the business. Example is the method used for calculating stock has been changed from LIFO to FIFO to overage cost. i) Capital expenditure is made when a firm spends money either to: Buy fixed assets, or Add to the value of an existing fixed asset. Included in such amounts should be those spent on: Acquiring fixed assets. Bringing them into the firm. Legal costs of buying buildings. Carriage inwards on machinery bought. Any other cost needed to get the fixed asset ready for use. Revenue expenditure is expenditure which is not for increasing the value fixed assets, but for running the business on a day-to-day basis, is known as revenue expenditure. The difference between revenue and capital expenditure can be seen clearly with the total cost of using a motor van for a firm. To buy a motor van is capital expenditure. The motor van will be in use for several years and is, therefore, a fixed asset. To pay for petrol to use in the motor van for the next few days is revenue expenditure. This is because the expenditure is used up in a few days and does not add to the value of fixed assets. Revenue expenditure is treated to expenses and they will posted to Income statement. Capital expenditure is treated to fixed assets and transact to Balance sheet. Difference between capital and revenue expenditure Expenditure Type of Expenditure 1. Buying motor van Capital 2. Petrol costs for motor van Revenue 3. Repairs to motor van Revenue 4. Putting extra headlights on motor van Capital 5. Buying machinery Capital 6. Electricity cost of using machinery Revenue 7. We spent RM 1,500 on machinery. RM 1,000 was for an item added to the machine: RM500 for repairs Capital RM1,000 Revenue RM 500 8. Painting outside of new building Capital 9. Three years later- repainting outside of building in (8) Revenue d) Reducing balance method Cost price 1 year Cost = RM 100,000 % = 10% 2005 Cost = 100,000 X 10% = 10000 X 7/12= 5833 100,000 5833 = 94167 2006 Cost = 94167 X 10% = 94167 X 7/12 = 5493 94167 5493 = 88674 e) i) Relevance is one more factors that must be present in the information for it to be useful. Information that is not relevant is considered as a waste of valuable time in decision making. ii) Reliability is the right decision based on a set of financial information would also depend on the reliability of the information. In the context, self generated information is considered to be the most reliable as compared to information gather by third parties. The user must be able to depend on the truthfulness of the information. iii) Comparability is procedures and practices should remain the same across time and reports, if difference is occurs they should be due to substantive differences in the events and conditions reported rather than arbitrarily implemented practices or procedures for data collection. iv) Understandability is information should be simple but not over simplified. Explanations and interpretations should be included where necessary. Understandability of information is governed by user characteristics and characteristics of information provided. Understandability may be relating to a particular decision makes. i) Share holder ii) Manager iii) Bank iv) Government v) Creditor QUESTION 2 You have been supplied with the following balances for Betsy Li, a sole trader, for the year ended 31 December 2009: RM Property at cost 140,000 Equipment at cost 70,000 Provision for depreciation at 01/01/09: Property 4,200 Equipment 17,500 Purchases 385,000 Sales 592,000 Stock at 01/01/09 17,400 Discount allowed 14,000 Discount received 1,900 Returns outward 17,600 Wages and salaries 43,400 Creditors 28,500 Debtors 15,800 Bank overdraft 2,900 Cash in hand 520 Drawings 17,950 Provision for bad debts at 01/01/09 200 General expenses 11,400 Long term loan 20,000 Capital at 01/01/09 30,670 The following adjustments need to be taken into account: Stock at 31/12/09 is $21,600 Wages and salaries outstanding at 31/12/09 are $4,,100 General expenses includes a prepayment for rates of $1,000 The provision for bad debts needs increasing to $280 Depreciation for the year has still to be provided as follow: Property 1.5% per year using the straight line method Equipment 25% per year using the reducing balance method Loan interest of $2,000 is outstanding Required: a) Prepare a trial balance for Betsy Li as at 31 December 2009. (10 marks) b) Prepare the Income Statement and Balance Sheet for Betsy Li for the period ending 31 December 2009. (15 marks) ANSWER QUESTION 2 Trial Balance at 31 December 2009 Property 140,000 Equipment at cost 70,000 Property 4,200 Equipment 17,500 Purchases 385,000 Sales 592,000 Stock 174,00 Discount allowed 14,000 Discount received 1,900 Return outward 17,600 Wages and salaries 43,400 Creditors 28,500 Debtors 15,800 Bank overdraft 2,900 Cash in hand 520 Drawings 17,950 Provision for bad debts 200 General expenses 11,400 Long term loan 20,000 Capital 30,670 715470 715470 Income statement for Betsy Li for the year ending 31 December 2009 Sales 592,000 592,000 less) Cost of good sales Opening stock 17,400 Purchase 385,000 less) Return outwards (17,600) 367,400 Net purchase 384,800 less) Closing stock (21,600) (363,200) Gross profit 228,800 add) Revenue Discount received 1,900 230,700 less) Expenses Discount allowed 14,000 Wages and salaries (43,400+4,100) 47,500 General expenses (11,400-1000) 10400 i) Provision for depreciation = Property at cost 2,100 ii) = Equipment at cost 13,125 iii) Provision for doubtful dept 80 Loan interest 2,000 (89205) Net profit 141,495 140,000 X 1.5% = 2100 70,000 17,500 = 52,500 X 25% = 13,125 iii) Provision for bad debts Balance b/d 280 Balance b/d 280 Income statement 80 280 280 Cost Accumulated Depreciation Fixed assets Property 140,000 6,300 133,700 Equipment 70,000 30,625 39,375 173075 Current assets Stock 21,600 Debtor 15,800 Provision for bad debt (280) 15,520 General expenses prepayment 1000 38,640 Current liability Creditor 28,500 Bank overdraft 2900 Wages and salaries outstanding 4,100 Loan interest outstanding 2000 (37,500) 1,140 174,215 Financed by Capital 30,670 add) Net Profit 141,495 172,165 less) Drawing (17,950) 154,215 Non-current liabilities Long term loan 20,000 174,215

Monday, August 19, 2019

The New Face of Black Feminine Beauty Essay -- Hairstyles Beauty Adver

The New Face of Black Feminine Beauty Since the early 1900s, Black women have had a fascination with their hair. More explicitly, they have had a fascination with straightening their hair. The need to be accepted by the majority class has caused them to do so. Though the image of straight hair as being better than coarse hair still hasn’t left the Black community, there has been a surge of non straight hairstyles since the nineteen sixties. Wearing more natural hairstyles, which ironically enough include ‘weaves’ and ‘hair extensions’ has been considered to be more empowered and more enlightened. However, this image comes with a price, and though it appears the ‘natural’ hairstyle movement has advanced Black women, it has actually set them back. The color of the ad is done in browns, earth tones. The signifier in this ad is the colorless sketch drawing of a woman that takes up one page of the two-page ad. She is a symbolic, versus an iconic sign, because the images that lead people to assume the picture is of a Black woman are learned, symbols such as ‘thick lips’ and the way her hair looks, not straight lines, but dotted. The signified is a Black woman, with ‘natural hair’, presumably pretty. The next part of the ad, and as equally important as the first, is on the second page. Large, in bold, is the word ‘naturally’. Beneath it are the words â€Å"If citrus sheen fell on shimmering braids and soothing mist caressed short twists. How lovely would that be?† It has the feel of a poem, and the different shades of brown add to the artistic feel of the page. The artistic feel is important, because it adds the idea of a woman with natural hair as being both bohemian and sophisticated. Beneath the ‘poem’ is an introduction to the product. It emphasizes the product’s natural ingredients, things that seem as though they would be better in a salad dressing than on one’s hair. However, these ingredients are important. First, the emphasis the ‘naturalness’ of the product in turn emphasizes the natural state of the projected audience’s hair. Secondly, its use of Americanized products instead of typical African products (olive oil versus jojoba oil) separate this ad from the typical ‘natural hair care product’ ads. This ad is geared towards a new type of Black woman, one who is more interested in a connection to spirituality and art than to Africa. The actual... ...ce political and socially, the harsher the beauty myth is used against them. In this case, the punishment for rebelling against the majority culture by adapting a ‘subversive’ hairstyle, the thinner you have to be in order to still be considered beautiful. Furthermore, thinness in the Black community is difficult to achieve. Typically, Black body structure, food and eating culture doesn’t easily result in thinness. This is the price Black women pay for this new expression of self. The new face of Black feminine beauty comes with a price. It alienates nearly half of those in the culture that don’t fit the standard. While the hairstyle challenges the majority culture, the newfound search for thinness that comes with the hairstyles returns Black women to the confines of White beauty standards. The ideology that natural hairstyles bring enlightenment came from the Rastafarian tradition. However, what new ads and cultural myth discount is the religious dimension that the Rastafarians placed on their hair. Natural hair doesn’t mean immediate spiritual or intellectual wisdom. What at first seems to be the advancement of Black women, shows the backwards regression of Black beauty.

Executive Summary Essay -- Economics

Executive Summary ----------------- The 2000 were a period of enormous growth, Australian is a prosperous nation has benefited from 9 years of uninterrupted economic growth. However, the international tourist industry was suffer from the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon in the USA on 11 September 2001. Overall, the Australian international tourist industry continues to be strong because of the board mix of natural environment and cosmopolitan cities located here, including high-tech, stable international political situation and economic prosperity. In order to increase Australian international tourist industry, Sport and Tourism of Australia’s Department of Industry, Science and Resources must develop a strategic plan to reach more potential visitors. With Australia unique natural resources, its appeal to more Asian travellers come to Australia. Over the past decade, most visitors came from the UK, Europe and North America. Now, Australia must begin some strategies to attract more travellers from Asia countries. This will give Australia the best opportunity to expand its tourism. Introduction Although Australia has been booming, the world economy has been in recession for some time. Indeed, Australian tourism is slowly declining has been far less than originally expected. Even though the Australian government strives to sustain growth in the economy without damaging the natural environment, but these improvement do not seem to be reaching the travellers its need to influence. Therefore, I am asked to summarise the marco environmental issues affecting Australian Tourism and propose additional strategies that the Sport and Tourism of Australia’s Department of Industry, Sc... ...ung singles, offer a lower price during peak season by effectiveness of adverting campaigns and promotion in generating more Asian, including: Â · Australia and Singapore have established a Joint Tourism Council that will aim to increase international arrivals to both Australia and Singapore from key markets through a co-operative partnership between the Australian Tourist Commission and the Singapore Tourism Board. Â · Most key operators selling Australia have developed websites providing product information, special deals, travel clubs and newsletters and online enquiry response mechanisms. Â · There are 10 major wholesalers/retail agents selling Australian group tour packages, with extensive branch office network of sales point location. These agents are linked with the three major carriers: Qantas, Cathy Pacific and Singapore Airlines.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Essay examples --

College Road Trip, a 2008 film directed by Roger Kumble and distributed by Walt Disney Studios, is based on Melanie Porter (Raven-Symonà ©), a college-bound student, and her father, Chicago police chief James Porter (Martin Lawrence), who cannot bear to let his daughter leave home. Melanie is ready to enter a new stage in her life. James, though, would rather she stay close to home by attending Northwestern University. Despite this, Melanie is offered an interview with her college of choice, Georgetown University, and plans immediately pack her bags. Melanie has no way to get to Georgetown until her friends invite her to join them on their college road trip. Her overprotective father insists on escorting her on their own trip instead. Throughout their trip, Melanie struggles to get along with her rigid father. She is sad that James is not interested in what she wants in life. After experiencing some car trouble, the family hitches a ride on a tour bus to James’ mother’ s house. On that ride, James finally listens to Melanie about her future goals. Later, Melanie runs into her friends, who invite her to spend the night in a sorority. Of course, James does not trust Melanie enough to be on her own, so he sneaks into the sorority and hides under the girls’ beds. There, he learns that Melanie is starting to trust him and feel that he understands her. The next morning, he is found in the sorority and is put in a local prison. Melanie is extremely upset at James and his inability to trust her. He finally realizes that she wants to be independent and free to make her own choices. The two agree to find any way they can to get a flight to Georgetown. They end up sky diving onto campus and making it just in time for her interview. After gettin... ...more flexible and open to change. Change within the family can be beneficial, for life is constantly changing outside the home. Making these adjustments will help the family become more balanced; it will improve the relationships between family members as each person learns to communicate effectively. Finally, the family members should continue to show appreciation, affection, and commitment to one another. If the family members spend time together, they should make sure it is enjoyable. Although the Porter family is going through a big change with Melanie leaving for college, it should continue to show support in times of stress and help with problems. The family will eventually be able to work out its differences reasonably. Family members will be able to trust each other, acknowledge each other’s independence, and encourage each other to follow their own dreams.

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Educating Essex Essay

Dear editor, I am writing to you because I find it impossible to understand why ‘Educating Essex’ represents teenagers in this such way to society today, it only makes an impression of them, that â€Å"all Britain’s teenagers are goby, impolite, spoilt and lacking enough self-discipline to interact with anyone. † This supports stereotypes of modern reckless teens, when in reality â€Å"the majority of Britain’s teenagers are interesting, polite and simply brilliant young people quietly going about the business of creating a bright future for themselves. On ‘Educating Essex’ I have witnessed many negative things that show teenagers in a bad way, such as students walking across a table, pupils on mobile phones, swearing at each other and teachers, cyber-bullying, teenage pregnancy and young girls caked with make-up, even the introduction is very negative towards teenagers. This shows that all teenagers don’t behave in school and do not care about their education and future, but majority of students are not like that, most of them are fun-loving, active and mature for their age. I think the reason for their behaviour are the cameras, as most of them want to show off and think it’s a good idea to play up to them. ‘Educating Essex’ has only focused on the students that badly behave and cause the trouble all the time, but they haven’t showed the good side of teenagers, where they work hard in class, and behave because they are working to achieve the equivalent of five or more GCSE’s at grade A* to C. The programme only creates a fake image of a typical teenager, but certainly they do not act like that, and I know that because I am a student myself, and I’ve never seen this kind of behaviour in my school. I think that the Daily Mail article only focuses on the teachers in ‘Educating Essex’ and mostly points out the bad things teachers say and do. Also how they carry out the lesson, it shows how immature they are when they burst into a class and disturb the lesson just to sing happy birthday. Another teacher is shown; as the students are leaving his class he tells them â€Å"Clear off, scumbags†. In a different scene it shows when Mr Goddard hides behind his door as Mr Drew enters the room, he reaches out his arm around the door to welcome his deputy with a two-fingered gesture, and Mr Drew’s respond is â€Å" You are such a ****er†. In episode two, there is a scene shown of a girl called Carmelita, who accuses the deputy of assaulting her. At first she tells him to â€Å"get lost† and â€Å"shut up†, but in the end she gets excluded when he tells him to â€Å"**** off†. The deputy is cleared after the headtecher watches the CCTVcameras footage. Also the article mentions that â€Å"this sort of behaviour by pupils shouldn’t be allowed and there is extremely childish behaviour by the teachers, who are setting a very bad example for the pupils as they are likely to see the programme† in results of this the teenagers are influenced by what they see on the TV, and think it’s right to behave in this practical way, another influence are the teachers, as they set an example for the students. One more significant reason for child’s behaviour are the parents, because of the way they are bough up, if they have problems at home they will release their anger in school, on students and teachers. But essentially that article did not mention any positive things about teenagers. There were few positive things that I’ve witnessed on ‘Educating Essex’ but not many as I expected to be. I think one of them was when, they showed the students reflecting on what they have done wrong and teachers, because it’s great to hear both sides of the story, also the relationship between the teachers and students which doesn’t happen very often. Additionally how the teachers refused to give up on challenging the pupils, so they have a chance to achieve. But I think the programme should’ve showed more of the satisfactory students who are interesting, polite and clearly brilliant young people trying to achieve, to have a better future. The ‘Observer’ article has also only highlighted the bad points about teenagers, much the same as the ‘Daily Mail’ article. But it makes the reader hate teens, as they call them â€Å"gobby, spaced- out, bizarre† this only shows how selfish they are, and do not care about others. Also they point out how they dress and refer to girls as â€Å"spoiled brats†, and in my opinion they are allowed to do what they want, because it’s their own choice to look like that. I think that the programme doesn’t give a real image of teenagers today because, in my opinion everyone is different, and also because it only concentrated on the bad behaved student where on the other hand there is more students that work really hard on everything, and also contribute in society.

Friday, August 16, 2019

Definition of the political system Essay

The claims of superiority, often evident in the attitudes and actions of the west, is based on their acceptance of democracy and the ideals which it suggests. Democracy is the fundamental basis that western countries use to claim themselves superior to other countries in the world. Western countries believe that democracy is the only fair form of government and are often critical of countries that have different forms of government. One of the ironies of these facts is that most citizens of democratic countries do not know what the word democracy means and what it represents. â€Å"A citizen of America will cross the ocean to fight for democracy, but wont cross the street to vote in a national election.† Bill Vaughan The Oxford dictionary defines democracy as government by the people, direct or representative. In Canada we have a representative democracy that allows us to pick our political leaders, but because of the laws and institutions that are in place it is unlikely that we will ever have a â€Å"pure† form of democracy. Some of the important questions, which all Canadians need to ask themselves, include those at the heart of this essay: Why do we call ourselves a democracy, do we only have democratic rights every four years when we are asked to vote? When we chose those who will represent us do we have any control over their actions after they are in power? What possible means do the people have in controlling politicians and government decisions? These and other questions need to be addressed in order to determine the nature of our democracy and perhaps our attitudes toward it. Representation is an essential element of modern democracy. In comparing populations of modern countries to the 5th century B.C.E. city-state of Athens, where the first democracy originated, the first difficulty encountered by modern democracy becomes clear. The citizen assembly in Athens was the most innovative and important idea in the development of democratic politics. The small population of Athens, however, allowed for a gathering of all men over the age of 18. Modern cities and states could never gather all men and women over 18 in one area to discuss and vote on every aspect of a political agenda. The modern solution, representative democracy, ensures that one person who voices the opinions of the majority represents a large number of people in the government. Unfortunately in  modern politics this does not usually work the way it was intended to. In theory representative democracy is a logical and practical way to deal with large populations and limited time. But with political corruption being a widespread problem, the voice of the majority is not always heard and their interests are not always fought for. Instead our political system is corrupted by influence and alliances and this is one of the principle reasons why modern western countries will never have a pure form of democracy. During the Golden Age of Athens, democracy was the prided of all Athenians and they believed in only the purest form of democratic institutions. â€Å"The most pure democracy, is that which is so called principally from that equality which prevails in it, for this is what the law in that state directs: that the poor shall be in no greater subjection than the rich, nor that the supreme power shall be lodged with either of these, but both shall share it. For if liberty and equality, as some persons suppose, are chiefly to be found in a democracy, it must be so by every department of government being alike open to all?as the people are majority and what they vote is law† Democracy in Athens included people being given positions of power at random by drawing names or by election by peers. Modern democracy has become a means to pick our so-called political elites, those that have devoted their lives to politics. The elite are people we pick who have the real power in the institutions of representative government. The question that needs to be addressed is whether we have any control over those in power after we have put them there. Are there laws and institutions in place to prevent a group from gaining so much power that they are hard to challenge? I do not think there are. In some ways the people do have democracy only when they can vote every four years. That is one of the few times that the public is a real threat to any party. Canadians do have a lack of total control over actions of the government, the essential element of pure democracy. Majority rule in the  legislature is an element of the Canadian government that allows for a party to be in a position where few things threaten its ability to govern how it wants. If a party in Canada holds the majority rule in the House of Commons they are given the opportunity to place members in the senate. Also if the party holds majority in the House of Commons for long enough they will be able to create a majority in the senate. The Prime Minister of the party that hold a Commons majority is able to pick the governor general (a political figurehead), and they have almost absolute power and influence over the various institutions of government. This is why, in democratic countries like Canada, it is necessary to have institutions or laws that will keep the government in check. A government that holds the majority fears few things when it comes to the public. It can easily be seen that demonstrations have little effect on the government nor do many attempts by the public to get the governments attention. There are two very important things that the governments do fear and have little direct influence over, the Supreme Court of Canada and the media. Both of these institutions cater to the rights of every Canadian. The Supreme Court has jurisdiction over disputes in all areas of the law, including constitutional law, administrative law, criminal law and civil law. One of the main functions of the court is to interpret the constitution as it pertains to the rights of Canadians. The Supreme Court is often called on to assist the government in interpreting the constitution during the creation of new law. Because the Supreme Court is based around fundamental human rights the government must abide by its rulings without question. And when it comes to the Supreme Court there are few instances of corruption, which is one of the bigger problems in politics. The Press, or Fifth Estate, is the second important check on government power. The press is the voice of the people, and although susceptible to manipulations of government, it is vital in keeping the public informed. The press are members of the public who appeal to the public and don’t necessarily care what the government thinks. The laws surrounding freedom of speech and freedom of the press allow the public to have some access to the truth. In my opinion the press has become a modern substitute for the  Athenian assembly where all Athenians were invited to every assembly to hear arguments on all aspects of political decisions. Although in modern democracy every citizen is not given the right to vote on every political decision, the media allows for the public to hear arguments from both sides about all issues. If one desired, one could find information on every issue up for debate in the House of Commons on any given day. When Democracy first started in Ancient Greece in a relatively small city-state of Athens it was enormously different than the democracy we know today. The basics of democracy: rule by the people, equality, and majority rule, have continued to be the foundation of modern democracy. We have maintained the basic principals of pure democracy but we have made some mandatory alterations to adopt democracy to the modern world. Sir Winston Churchill once said, â€Å"democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.† But most importantly, at the end of the day, democracy attempts to create social equality.

Thursday, August 15, 2019

The Patriot Act

After the United States was attacked in the infamous 9/11 episode, the United States enacted the United States of 2001 on October 24, 2001 (Mil Net, 2001). The law was passed without any objections to the passage of the law, and was signed by President Bush on October 26 of the same year (Encarta, 2008). The Patriot Act is considered as the centerpiece legislation of the United States' response to the September 11, 2001 tragedy (John Gamboa, 2008).The law by its defintion is a tool that aims to strengthen the instruments of the law enforcement arms of the state, especially its police and prosecutin arms, with the goal of preventing attacks of this kind in the future (Encarta, 2008). The act itself lays out specific rules on surveillance, intelligence gathering and sharing among law enforcement units, money laundering, security at entrance and exit points of the country and criminal law among others (Gamboa, 2008).In conjuction with the applicability of other statutes, has in fact giv en more foundation to the civil freedoms and rights of people (Paul Rosenweig, Alane Kochems & James Jay Carafano, 2004). To prevent abuse, the Act has been one of the most extensive reporting procedures attached on any law (Rosenweig, Kochems & Carafano, 2004). But the question lies not in the benefits, but whether the law should be encated as is, with amendments or totally scrapped. Many critics of the Act have demonized the legislation as an instrument of abuse and a threat to individual rights (Paul Rosenweig, 2004).In the lifetime of the Act, many of the provisions in the law have either been amended, changed and re-worded to effect changes in the law to make it adapt to broader changes to attain less then defined and specific goals (Gamboa, 2008). But after all the smoke of critcism has cleared, one thing is still evident, the Act is still a very important tool in the fight against terrorism (Rosenweig, 2004). In the past, law enforcement groups were limited in the amount and quality of information that they could pass on to each other. The Act virtually did away with that limitation (Rosenweig, 2004).In this light, a majority of Americans, about 60 percent, are in favor of re-enacting that Act, but oppose any additional powers given to entities like the Federal Bureau of Investigation, like access to electronic mail, issuing subpoenas (Gary Langer, 2005) and to limit the access or rights of immigrants on U. S soil (New York Civil Liberties Union, 2005). Congress, basing on the utility of the Act, must enact the Act, subject to thorough study and discussion. Under the current ambit of the law, it is the people of the United States that are more apprehensive of the law than the intended terrorist targets (Gamboa, 2008).Many of the oppositors of the Act even claim that the law was just a cover for some law enforcement agencies to obtain the new expanded powers in the Act (Encarta, 2008). But again, the law and its effects would be more beneficial than the percieved threats to the citizenry (Rosenweig, Kochems & Carafano, 2004). And that is where the powers and wisdom of the members of Congress must step in to review and take action against the threats that the Act has seemed to conjure up (Rosenweig, Kochems & Carafano, 2004). References Gamboa, J. B. (2008, September 11). The Patriot Act.The Daily Aztec -9/11 where are we now http://media. www. thedailyaztec. com/media/storage/ paper741/news/2008/09/11/911WhereAreWeNow/The-Patriot. Act-3425472. shtml Langer, G. (2005). Poll: support seen for Patriot Act. Retrieved September 25, 2008, from http://abcnews. go. com/US/PollVault/story? id=833703 Mil Net. (2001). U. S. Patriot Act of 2001. Retrieved September 25, 2008, from http://www. milnet. com/pat-act-HR3162. htm MSN Encarta. (2008). Patriot Act. Retrieved September 25, 2008, from http://encarta. msn. com/encyclopedia_701712693_3/Patriot_Act.html New York Civil Liberties Union. (2005). Oppose expansion of USA Patriot Act. Retrieved S eptember 25, 2008, from http://ga1. org/nyclu/alert-description. html? alert_id=1303074 Rosenweig, P. (2004). United States. Retrieved September 25, 2008, from http://italianlibertarians. tripod. com/id12. html Rosenweig, P. , Kochems, A. & James Jay Carafano, J. J. ( 2004). The Parito Act reader: understanding the law's role in the global war on terrorism. Retriieved September 25, 2008, from http://www. heritage. org/Research/HomelandDefense/upload/69895_1. pdf The Patriot Act The United States 9/11 attack has marked a significant event in the history. The attack against USA was a proof that even strong and imperialist countries are never safe at any time. It has severely damaged the US reputation and challenged them further – economically, politically and socially. This system reluctance has made citizens and government more vigilant of their safety, and consequently it led US into formally launching laws and policies that aimed to strengthen their defenses against terrorist activities.Immediately following the 9/11 attack, the US government was fast into amending the US Patriotic Act (Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism). This act contains 157 sections, which includes legal responses to assist terrorist victims, protect civilians from fake solicitations, and provide benefits for public safety (Perez, 2003).The act gave more ability to the law enforcement bodies to investigat e on cases suspected to involve local and foreign terrorist activities, more power to target monetary transactions that possibly induced terrorist connections and filter against all electronic communication devices that may be infiltrated by terrorist activities (Gable). According to the US government and its supporters, the US Patriot Act shall be able to reveres terrorism efforts and effects in several ways:(1) The Patriot Act allows investigators to use the tools that were already available to investigate organized crime and drug trafficking; (2) The Patriot Act facilitated information sharing and cooperation among government agencies so that they can better â€Å"connect the dots. â€Å"; (3) The Patriot Act updated the law to reflect new technologies and new threats and; (4) The Patriot Act increased the penalties for those who commit terrorist crimes (The USA Patriotic Act: Preserving Life and Liberty, pp.1-4). However, several years have passed since the attack and since th e start of the implementation of the act, numerous claims of its inefficacy have emerged; moreover, instead of its benefits being publicized, its negative implications and results are rather more rampant. Shortly two years since the 9/11 occurrence, and even right at the moment that we speak, numerous cases of violations of human liberties have bee n reported to have thwarted the civilian.More so, it has nourished the feeling of discontent and dissent over concerned citizens as the act continued its â€Å"rampage against terrorism. † What the act has merely done is to limit the privacy of the civilians. The act has legalized all sorts of interferences towards the private messages and way of communication that every individual goes through against their will, and even behind private citizens’ knowledge and consent (Kranich, 2003).The act, though it has indeed signaled the intensified battle against terrorism, it has also catered the arena that strengthened the backbone for government intervention against private citizens. Ironically though, the same provisions that are supposedly and potentially to be of important use in order to eliminate terrorist activities, are the same provisions that have suppressed the liberty of individuals and have further violated human rights in a number of ways.Amidst the oppositions from concerned groups against the passage and the continuity of the amendment, still the US government pursued its interest to counter terrorism even against the will and support of a large part of the American citizens, as well as other citizens around the world. Now, looking back at the instances starting from the attack, towards the end wherein the US legalized such provisions for the US Patriot Act – it is only rational to take a look on what it has caused and asses if the result was worth taking the risk once more if the provisions of the act are to be renewed.Personally, if I were to take a vote on whether the act should be re newed, I would rather have it reassessed first and point out the blunders that have caused too much opposition against it. At one point, the act was passed under limited time and too much pressure from the international community as it was enacted shortly after the 9/11 attack, it is enough to say that it was passed without proper deliberations (Van Bergen, 2002) Moreover, changes are really ought to be done in order to create a just and equal standpoint in battling against terrorism.One thing that should be changed is the utter disrespect against individual liberty that it encourages. Anything that directly and deliberately limits and suppresses the freedom and privacy of an individual must be opposed just because of mere suspicions. If anything must be done that shall violate the rights of the individuals, proper investigation must take recourse and until sufficient information are gathered, no one holds the right to interfere against anyone’s privacy.Though the US Patriot Act was implemented in its goal to counter terrorist attacks and to further protect the welfare of the American citizens, as well as other citizens in world but, it should not be forgotten that the basic right to freedom of the individuals should not be put at stake. Countrywide safety is really important, however, to totally violate the human rights is also as dangerous as what terrorism can bring, thus justifying the changes, if not the repeal of the US Patriot Act. References Department of Justice. The USA Patriotic Act: Preserving Life and Liberty.Retrieved from Life and Liberty database Gable, Garrett. Effects of the USA Patriot Act. Retrieved December 2, 2007 from Kranich, Nancy. (2003) The Impact of USA Patriot Act: An Update. Retrieved December 2, 2007 from Perez, Paul. 2003. USA Patriot Act helps efforts to combat terrorism. Retrieved December 2, 2007 from St. Petersburg Times Van Bergen, Jennifer. 2002. Repeal the USA Patriot Act. Retrieved December 2, 2007 from www. tru thout. org