Money: United States and Famous Wealthy Businessman

In this day and age, it is almost impossible to live without money. Money is the key to getting most of what we need and want. Evil is an impious act, which takes over individuals or societies and makes them do wrongdoings to each other. This brings us to our topic of discussion: â€Å"Money is the root of all evil†. There are two different attitudes to this topic. A group believes that money is not the root to all evil. In the world we currently live in, one needs money in order to survive and be happy.Money gives people possibilities and when available, it allows people to live luxurious lives. When accessible, some people use their excess money to aide others. For instance, Bill Gates, a famous wealthy businessman, donates 99% of his profits every year to charities. These charities then use the money to help the poor. This group also believes that, other than money, there is other ancestry of evil. For instance, hate is one aspect. Hate is created out of jealousy between in dividuals or societies. Detestation, if strongly felt, may lead to murder.Another principle of malevolence is sexual cravings. For some individuals, these cravings, if not fulfilled, may drive them into committing a horrible sort of violence. It may lead to rape. This malice has nothing to do with money whatsoever; hence money is not the root of all evil. On the contrary, a group believes that money is the root of all evil. It is factual that money gives people power to succeed and to get what they want. However, sometimes excess power is used erroneously, which in the long term, creates evil.Evidence of this is the war that took place between Iraq and America in year 2003. It was America who declared war against Iraq. That war was ridiculous, as, until now, it has not yet been proven that Iraq had Weapons of Mass Destruction! America had, and still has, a lot of money, and therefore, a lot of power. This has driven America to creating war and conflicts with other countries, which i s a sign of evil. This money, which has been spent on the war, could've been used in supporting millions of homeless, poor and starving people around the world!

Dow Chemical Case

Dow Chemical Case Question 1 Polyethylene is the world’s most widely used plastic. Polyethylene plastic’s principal application was in packaging, from trash bags to milk jugs. It was widely used in the manufacture of everything from trash bags, picnic cutlery and garbage pails, to plastic toys. Polyethylene also replaced glass, wood, and metal in certain applications. There were three types of polyethylene, Low-density polyethylene, High density polyethylene and Low linear density polyethylene. Polyethylene produced from ethylene. Ethylene is produced from oil or natural gas. Ethylene plants separated either naphtha molecules (derived from crude oil) or ethane molecules (derived from natural gas). The ethylene derived from this process was used to produce polyethylene. The critical success factors in this business were capital intensive and economies of scale. Polyethylene was a global commodity product and pricing worldwide typically fell into a narrow band. The demand for polyethylene was large because it was the world’s most widely used plastic and polyethylene customers were typically small and medium-sized plastic processing companies. The big Risks in the industry: * The raw material risk – Cracking naphtha (the raw material derived from crude oil) required much more energy, manufacturing intensity, and equipment than cracking ethane (derived from natural gas). Supply of primary materials and electricity are crucial to success of polyethylene production. * Cost risk – large plant sizes and the need for economies of scale rendered the ethylene industry highly capital intensive. A plant for cracking ethane was estimated to hundreds of millions and the cost for a plant for cracking naphtha is double. Capacity additions or reductions could significantly affect balance of supply and demand, influencing capacity utilization rates, prices, and profit margins. * Ethylene profitability was tightly links to its global operating rate. The ethylene business links to oil companies, governments, pure chemical companies, conglomerates, private investors, and joint ventures. * Competition of polyethylene industry in Argentina and in the global market. The government operator was directly or indirectly financing capital – intensive ethylene plants in order to stimulate downstream business. Some of countries, the government contribute the investment. * The margins for producers of ethylene and first-order derivatives (mostly plastics) were highly correlated because the producers for them were highly integrated. Question 2 The stages of the project: * Stage 1: involved taking control of PBB, which comprised the ethylene cracker and polyethylene plant, and then upgrading the facilities in order to make them internationally competitive * Stage 2: involved acquiring Polisur’s two polyethylene plants * Stage 3: involved building a new ethylene cracker and a polyethylene plant These three stages are closely related to each other. The next stage would be reached only if the previous stages achieved, and the followed stages ensure the success of the previous stages. Acquiring PBB offers Dow the opportunity to enter Argentina market, and this is the first step for Dow to take over control of Bahia Blanca’s polyethylene activities. Dow is bidding not only for PBB in the privatization, but also an overall plan for the development of Dow’s polyethylene business in Argentina. Dow will decide on the price to bid for PBB in the upcoming privatization, the price is based on the valuation of the entire project (stage 1, 2 and 3). The three stages are one big project. Dow’s bid for PBB should not be based solely on the value of Stage 1 of the project. Gaining control of PBB would be the first step in the project. But taking all the factors discussed above into consideration, Dow should value all the 3 stages in order to bid on the PBB project. Dow believed that it had the opportunity to become the number-one player in the Latin American polyethylene industry. To achieve this goal, Dow would also have to acquire Polisur’s two polyethylene plants (stage 2) and expand existing capacity. The expansion of its polyethylene capacity in Bahia Blanca would require the company to build a world-class competitive cracker (stage 3). Doing so would nearly triple PBB’s ethylene capacity. Therefore, Dow had to not only consider what to bid for PBB in the privatization, but also develop an overall plan for the development of Dow’s polyethylene business. Dow had to incorporate the terminal value of each stage of the project. Question 3: The followings are the arguments that support the acquisition of PBB: 1. The whole project will increase Dow shareholder’s wealth. As a public company, the first aim of the management team is to increase the shareholder wealth. The project proposed by the management team is definitely consistent with this goal. And bidding on the PBB is the first stage of the whole project. The exact increase in shareholders’ equity may be various at this point as it depends on lots of other factors ( we will discuss the risk of valuation thought the whole case. , but in general, the management team is confident in the future outlook. 2. The other important strategic purpose of acquiring PBB is that it is the first stage towards consolidating all Bahia Blanca’s polyethylene activity under Dow’s control. The 3-stage project will make Dow to be the leading company of polyethylene in Argentina, even in Latin America because of its MNC background. This will have a long term positive influence in Dow’s stock price as well as shareholders’ equity. 3. Also, as indicated in the case, the demand of polyethylene will increase in the next couple years. Argentina is an emerging market, which is facing a rapid transformation. Dow’s vice president anticipated continued improvement in standards of living, which will lead to increase demand for polyethylene in Argentina, as well as in Latin America. The expected growth in polyethylene demand made PBB a potentially attractive acquisition. 4. PBB right now is a government controlled complex which is going to privatize. For Dow, it is a perfect opportunity to build long term relationship with Argentina government. It will give Dow more opportunities in the market of Argentina and Latin America. Question 4: The followings are the mains risks of the project for Dow beyond the general industry risks discussed in Question 1: 1. Country risk. Argentina is an emerging market. It is widely agreed that when we estimate the risk of emerging market by using the traditional model like CAMP, the result also unfavorable. Some reasons are the market is highly concentrated and integrated. And also the country risk cannot be diversified. So it brings the uncertainty to Dow’s valuation. 2. Political risk. Political risk is part of country risk. It is identified as the potentially adverse impact a country’s environment has on a firm’s future cash flows. And it will affect Dow’s future expected returns and valuation measures. If there is some major political unrest in Argentina, the government expropriates PBB, Dow will face a significant loss. Also, if the Argentina government default on its debt, Dow would face the bad debt which is an huge cost and will drag down the expected cash flows. 3. Economics risk The privatization in Argentina was the progress to control the fiscal problems, like hyperinflation, stagflation and huge fiscal deficits. As an emerging country, Argentina had not developed a healthy financial market within the country. The unstable economy would lead to a huge possibility of default. Another possible aspect was the economics risk of the world. If there was an economics downturn, the huge investment of the project would worth less and Dow will facing difficulties to rise equity to finance the project. 4. Unexpected risk: (1) Unexpected shortage of energy. The industry is really energy intensive. If there is a energy shortage such as the decreased supply of oil, the whole project will face negative return. (2) Unexpected rise in variable cost, such as transportation cost. The unexpected rise in variable cost will have negative impact on Dow’s cash flow. The decrease of expected cash flow will lead the decrease value of the project. (3) There are 3 stages of the whole project. If one of them did not work well, the overall goal will be affected and the whole project would have the risk of failure. Question 5: Given in the case that Dow’s cost of capital for similar U. S. based projects is 10%, thus we chose to use NPV to evaluate the different stages of the project, by discounting each year’s expected cash flow (Exhibit 9, 10 & 11) to the base year-1995. Stage 1 Valuation Given in the case, Dow is bidding on the sale of 51% of PBB, therefore, if we calculate the Present Value of the cash flow, Dow should get 51%. Dow’s total investments for PBB Ethylene cracker and PBB Polyethylene cracker between 1996 and 2000 are $128. 9 million and $28 million in Exhibit 7 from the case. If we compare these figures with Exhibit 9A & 9B investment numbers between 1996 and 2000, they are the same (shown in Table 1); this means that the cash flow of PBB in exhibit 9A is the cash flow after only deducting the investment from Dow. So, we add back Dow’s investment to get the actual cash flow of PBB. Since Dow’s share in PBB is 51%, it gets 51% of PBB’s cash flow and we discount the cash flow. Next we calculate the sum of Present Value of Dow’s investment in each year, and subtract it from Dow’s 51% share in PBB. This number reflects the actual net cash flow been distributed to Dow. The followings summarize the steps of the thinking process: Step 1: Add back Dow’s investment to PBB’s cash flow, this gives the total future cash flow to be distributed among Dow (Dow owns 51% of PBB) and other owners. Step 2: Find the PV of total future cash flows Step 3: Distribute the 51% of the PV of total future cash flow to Dow Step 4: Deduct PV of Dow’s investment from Step 3 The value of Stage 1 is $345. 71 million as shown in Table 2. Stage 2 Valuation In Stage 2, we took polyethylene CFs directly from Exhibit 10, and discount them by appropriate discount rate, and summing up these PV of the cash flows we get the value of Stage 2, $399. 76 million. Another point worth mentioning is the calculation of the terminal value in 2010. Given in the case, the growth is 3. % constant for the project, we took the cash flow in 2010, which is $82 million; multiplied it by (1+g)/(k-g), and discounted it by 16 years to get the present value. Stage 3 Valuation Stage 3 involves building a new ethylene cracker and a polyethylene plant. We summed up the total cash flows of them and find PV of the cash flows in each year. The total of all the PV of the cash flows is the value of Stage 3, $ 993. 69 mill ion shown in Table 4. Now we have the value for each stage, and we get the total of the project, it is worth $1739. 16 million with the value of Stage 1, Stage 2 and Stage 3 are $345. 1 million, $399. 763 million and $993. 690 million respectively, under the assumption that each stage is successful just like Dow has planned. Question 6: There are two ways to do Discounted Cash Flow analysis in an international context. We can adjust the discount rate by adding a country’s political risk premium or, adjust the cash flow of the project. In this question, we will discuss the appropriate method of the project’s discount rate. In a country, the higher risk that investors perceived, the higher discount rate that should be applied to the project’s cash flows. The risks we are talking about are not diversifiable. Since November 1995, the Convertibility Law tied the peso to the U. S. dollar, even thought the market thinks the fixed exchange rate would last for several years, but as the executives of Dow, Virgnar and Marcer need to consider the possibility of future crises. Uncertainty about future currency thus will increase the discount rate of project in Argentina, which means that Dow’s cost of capital is increased. Possible impact of government policies relevant to foreign investments is another issue, example increased tax rate. This will leave Dow with a lower investment return than before. In practice it is often difficult to quantify the likelihood and impact of political risk on international investments; given US and Argentine Yields in the case, we can adjust the discount rate by adding the sovereign yield spread between U. S. and Argentina. The idea is that the bond spreads between two countries with same maturity reflects country risk. The country with the higher yield in this case is Argentina; it offers approximately 10% more than the U. S’ yield shown in Exhibit 12. The reason behind that is Argentina has a higher country risk than U. S. , so it has to offer a higher yield in order to compensate the investors for taking additional risks. Therefore Dow should take these additional risks into consideration when evaluating the project. The adjusted discount rate for the project should be 20%, 10% ( cost of capital for similar U. S projects from Q5) + 10% (Argentina’s country risk) and this change in the discount rate will have a big impact on the value of each stage in the project which we will examine later. There are two major advantages of adjusting the discount rate by adding the sovereign yield spread. One of the advantages is the countries’ bond yields are easy to find, observe and access, investors can easily calculate the country risk by subtracting the two bond yields. Another advantage is that the yield of bond is forward-looking, it does not only incorporate today’s condition, also the yield reflects the market’s future expectation of a country’s risk and return so it is a good representation of cost of equity in a particular country. Salomon Smith Barney model is similar to the model that we just described, but with additional inputs and refinements. If we have more information from S&P country sovereign ratings, country ratings, and macro variables, we could adjust discount rate for the project more accurately. Furthermore, the political risk premium that we can add to the discount rate can be scaled up or down based on subjective scores for Dow’s access to capital, susceptibility of the project investment to Argentina’s political risk and the importance of the investment for Dow. Therefore, the more relevant information we have, the more accurate discount rate we can construct to help evaluate the project. Question 7 The calculation process for is basically the same as in question 5, except here we use the cost of capital 20% instead of 10% to discount expected cash flow. Calculation shows in Table 5 (in Million U$). The project worth is $464. 734 which about only 20% of the project value if it located in US. The largely decrease in project value is due to the higher country risk in Argentina than in the US. The higher country risk was reflected in the higher discount rates which lower the present value of the cash flow. In stage 1, the present value of expected cash flow (CFs) is 160. 32 which is 54% lower than the stage 1 value in question 5. The percentage of decrease is lower than the total project value’s decrease, since most of the value in stage 1 was generate from early years cash flow. The country risk in the short run is lower than in the long run. Because in the long run there are more chances for uncertainty events to happened. In stage 2, the present value of CFs is 194. 81 and it is 51% lower than the project value in US which also less than the percentage decrease of the total project value. And this is due to the same reason as in stage 1. In stage 3, the value is $109. 837 which is 89% lower than the question 5’s value. The significant decreasing value is due to the value of stage 3 is mainly from terminal value. Since there are higher country risk and more uncertainty in the long run, stage 3’s long run cash flows ( include terminal value) are heavily discounted which lead to low present value. Question8 Dow should bid for PBB no matter the project is in US or Argentine, since the total project values and stage 1 values are both positive in these two countries. Because Dow is an American company, the shareholders care about the US returns. The Project cash flows and stage 1cash flows are discounted by the cost of capital in US and get positive present values, which mean the PPB will increase Dow’s shareholder wealth. To determining how much Dow should bid, the company should aware that there are some requirements made by the Argentina government. First, the government set the minimum accepted price is 150million U$, which is the lowest range for Dow’s bid. Second, the government requires the bidder to have a statement of net worth of at least 5 billion U$. While, Dow has two other competitors Copesul and Perez also want to bid PPB. However, Copesul only has net worth $929,538,000 and Perez has net worth $1,461,000,000. Even if Copesul and Perez combine to bid PPB, their total net worth around $2,391,000,000 will be smaller than the $5 billion requirement. Therefore, Dow should not been threatened by Copesul and Perez’s bid, and they should not affect Dow’s biding strategy. Therefore, for the bidding price: Value of the bid= Value of (stage 1+2+3)-cost of PBB- cost of Polisur The cost of stage 3 is already included in the value of stage 3. In question 3, we obtain the Value of (stage 1+2+3) equal to$464. 734 million. Since the Value of the bid>0, then cost of (PBB+ Polisur) < $464. 734million According to the government requirement, Dow could bid PBB for $150 million, then their higher range for Dow’s bid should be $ 314. 734 million ($464. 734million- $150 million). Table 1: Table 2: Table 3: Table 4: Table 5:

Evolution of Business Presentation Essay

The Industrial Revolution Business has gone through several different stages of evolution from feudalism to the industrial revolution. In the following, each stage of business evolution will be examined and explained in detail. FeudalismThe business or economic system in which one class of people, aristocrats, control the property rights to all valuable resources, including people. The Hierarchy of English Aristocrats is indicated to the right of the description of Feudalism. The position in which an individual held was determined by the income they generated. The more income you made, the higher position you held in the hierarchy. The kings and Queens were the highest in rank who controlled everyone and everything that happens in their land. Hierarchy of authorityDating back in the Stone Age, the beginnings of Feudalism were starting to take place. Business has always been the stepping stone to a grand life, rather it be a great nation or corporation. During the time of the stone age, there was a chief who had authority over everyone. There were hunters who hunted wild animals for food to distribute to the tribe or clan. The food gatherers would gather and clean all the food the hunters would bring in. Craftspeople would make clothes and weapons out of the hides and bones of the animals hunted. The priests, shamans, and sages were responsible for providing â€Å"protection† and religious hope. MERCANTILISM Business or economic system in which merchants and bankers organize the trade of products across markets and countries until they are put to their most valued use. Mercantilism existed back in Egyptian times also. It was a huge part of Egypt and it’s economic existence. There was some papyrus records found that described boundless quantities of grain and olive oil being stored in warehouses that extended over several fields in Alexandria, Egypt. These  warehouses were meant for sale abroad. In the time of the Ptolemy dynasty, mercantilism was a godsend. This king of Egypt owed Alexander the Great an abundant amount of money for Egypt being a free country. Along with gold, King Ptolemy would send fields of grain as payment for their freedom. The price of TeaMerchants then and now still make huge amounts of profit by taking advantage of differences in the prices of products in different markets. In the 1600s, tea that was imported from India to Britain cost about $100 a pound in today’s money. It was so expensive that it had to be locked up and taken out with care. Because tea was so expensive, some British communities fought back by dressing up as Native Americans and forcing the tea that was being imported into the ocean. This was called the Boston Tea Party and it helped bring about eh American Revolution. CAPITALISM The economic, business, and political system that allows people to own resources and use them to engage in production, trade, and distribution of goods and services. Capital was and still is a huge part of business. If you didn’t have what you needed, trading and bartering was the way to get it. For example, $100 was your starting capital and you needed to buy ten sacks of corn to create your product. Once you create your product and sold it, you produced more capital to turn around and buy more product. If the business was good then you could have created profit as well. Capital is not just money, it could be anything that creates profit. A piece of land perhaps with the ability to grow corn, raise cattle, etc. When a person grows corn and raises livestock, they could sell it and make an abundance of profit. COMMERCE Commerce is a division of trade or production which deals with the exchange of goods and services from producer to final consumer. Commerce comprises the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money between two or more entities. It functions as the central mechanism which drives capitalism and certain other economic systems. Commerce can be traced to the very start of communication in prehistoric times. Trading became a principal of prehistoric people who bartered what they had for goods and services from each other. PROPERTY RIGHTS Property rights are the claims by people to own, use, and sell the rights to valuable resources. Unlike now, there were no laws to protect and provide people with a legitimate claim to own and use property. The claim for property rights were a matter of using harsh force to get obtain it. Once you claimed land, you owned everything on it. The diagram shows what property rights and resources are,Land: ownership of the rights to land and the buildings and structures upon it. Capital: Ownership of the rights to financial assets such as stock, bonds, and money. Enterprise: Ownership of the rights to the products of enterprise such as patents and copyrights to products. Labor: Ownership of the rights to ones own labor and the right to work freely. THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION The Industrial Revolution was an era in the 1700 and 1800’s that marked improved production and trade brought about by advances in technology. The Industrial Revolution was a period in which fundamental changes occurred in agriculture, textile and metal manufacture, transportation, economic policies and the social structure in England. It spread through Europe and  the United States. This period is appropriately labeled â€Å"revolution† for its thoroughly destroyed the old manner of doing things. Advances in agricultural techniques and practices resulted in an increased supply of food and raw materials, changes in industrial organization and new technology which cased an increase in production, efficiency and profits, and the increase of commerce, foreign and domestic, were all conditions which promoted the advent of the Industrial Revolution. REFERENCES The McGraw-Hill Companies. (2007). The Evolution of Business. Retrieved August 22, 2008, from The McGraw-Hill Companies, Week Two, BUS210- Foundations of Business Web site. Halsall Paul, (1996). Internet Medieval Sourcebook. . Retrieved August 22, 2008, from http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/sbook1i.html#FeudalismWikipedia. (). Feudalism, Mercantilism, Capitalism, Commerce, Property rights, The Industrial Revolution. Retrieved August 22, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_PageGoogle.com. (2008). Feudalism, Mercantilism, Capitalism, Commerce, Property rights, The Industrial Revolution. Retrieved August 22, 2008, from www.google.comAbout.com. (2008). Feudalism, Mercantilism, Capitalism, Commerce, Property rights, The Industrial Revolution.. Retrieved August 22, 2008, from www.about.comAsk. (2008). Feudalism, Mercantilism, Capitalism, Commerce, Property rights, The Industrial Revolution. Retrieved August 22, 2008, from www.ask.com

Why is Walmart considered to be a channel captain Essay

Why is Walmart considered to be a channel captain - Essay Example Walmart is also a channel captain because it has been in the industry for a long time now. It is well aware of the vendors, inventory, resources, cost-effective yet efficient means of transport, and the ever-changing expectations of the consumers with respect to creativity and innovation. Walmart is capable of utilizing this experience to invest in profitable plans. â€Å"With the rise in power of national chain stores and private-brand merchandise, many large retailers such as Wal-Mart are taking a leadership role in the channel† (Pride and Ferrell 403). Walmart knows how to get quality products made that provide value to the consumers while keeping the costs low so as to not only make good profit but also keep the consumers satisfied. To summarize, Walmart is a channel captain because of its huge number of outlets spread all over the world, its strong image as a cheap and well-equipped retailer, and its high purchasing

Capital structure theory, issues and debates while showing how capital Research Paper

Capital structure theory, issues and debates while showing how capital structre choices affects a firms return on investment (RO - Research Paper Example In this portion, the MM approach for the capital structure theory has been described, and the assumptions have been stated and criticized. The main objective of this project is to show the importance of the capital structure of a company and its affect on the performance. A detailed analysis of the debt and equity financing has been done in this project from 2010 to 2012. Their implications have been discussed. In this project, it has also been shown how the capital structure of a company determines the business risk. Table of Contents Table of Contents 3 Introduction 4 Business and Financial Risks 5 Business Risks 5 Financial Risks 5 Modigilani and Miller’s Capital Structure Theory 6 Capital Structure Evidence and Implications 7 Optimal Capital Structure for the Company 9 Conclusion 11 References 12 Appendices 13 Introduction Coca Cola is a multinational beverage manufacturer, marketer and retailer of non-alcoholic beverages (Coca Cola, 2013a). It has its headquarters in Atla nta, Georgia. It was established in 1886 by John Pemberton who was a pharmacist in Columbus, Georgia (Coca Cola, 2013b). Initially the beverage was sold for 5 cents each glass at Jacob’s Pharmacy and regularly nine glasses were purchased. John Pemberton died within two years and after that the brand was bought by Asa Candler in 1889 (Coca Cola, 2013c). From 1900 to 1920, the company expanded to a great extent. Robert Woodruff was appointed as the President of the company just four years after it has been bought by his father from Asa Candler. He remained in that position for a period of more than sixty years. From 1950 to 1960, the company introduced different flavors of juices in its product line. Presently the company serves in most of the remote areas of the globe and has more than five hundred different drinking brands. The company is currently financing its operations with higher dependency on debt capital. There are various factors that affect the capital structure of t he company. It needs to be financially flexible in order to adapt to the changes in the existing market. The financial performance of the company has improved significantly. The company is enjoying tax benefits because of the high debt financing. Thus, the tax position of the company is good. There are various other business risks which are reducing its growth opportunities. Business and Financial Risks The company has some risks which pose a threat to the projection of growth. Business Risks Changes in the Customer Preferences Presently, it has been observed that the customer’s preferences for non-alcoholic drinks have changed due to various health concerns, changes in their lifestyle and also the pressure from the competitive products in the market. The company should try to adapt to the changes with the current market conditions in order to lead the market and also to reach to other areas which have not been explored. Increase in Competition Among all the leading beverage manufacturing companies, PepsiCo is the major competitor of Coca Cola. There is also an increased competition from different beer manufacturing companies which provide various non-alcoholic products. Thus, Coca Cola is facing a threat from the strong competitors in the market. Financial Risks Fluctuations in Foreign Exchange Rates The company incurs liabilities in different currencies apart from that of dollar. The changes

Electrica lab report about flip flops Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Electrica lab report about flip flops - Essay Example ............7 1.4 Procedure............................................................................................. 8 2.0 DISCUSSION...................................................................................13. 2.1 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS................................15 2.3 LEARNING EVALUATION.............................................................17 3.0 STUDENTS DECLARATION..........................................................18 4.0 REFERENCES..................................................................................19 5.0 GLOSSARRY...................................................................................20 6.0 APPENDIX.......................................................................................21 Abstract As far as electronics is concerned, a latch or flip-flop is a type of circuit that is characterized by having two stable states and serves as a storage device for state information Any circuit can easily be made in such a wa y that it alters the state by having signals applied to control inputs so that there become one or two outputs. A flip-flop is fundamentally a storage tool in a sequential logic. A latch and a flip-flop are fundamental building blocks in any digital electronic systems. They have common application in communications, computers alongside other types of electronic systems. This experimental set up is about flip-flops. ... Introduction. Both the latches, as well as flip-flops store data that are used for state storage (Cotten, 2001). When the latches and flip-flops are used in finite-states machines, both the output and the next state relies on both the current output and the state of current of the flip-flop in use (Earl & Gates, 2000). Moreover, flip-flops are used in counting of pulses, as well as in synchronization of the variably-timely input signals to a certain reference timing signal. There are various models of flip-flops (Earle, 2003). There are the clocked, edge-triggered or synchronized types, and the simple, or transparent types. The clocked devices are what are often referred to as flip-flops, while the word latch refers to the storage elements (Earl & Gates, 2000). The ordinary flip-flop can easily be build at a pair of cross-coupled inverting elements. In many occasions, the bipolar transistors, inverters, the vacuum tubes, the inverting logic gates, and the field effect transistors hav e been used in the practical circuits (Roth, 1995). Theory The clocked devices are often designed specifically for synchronous systems. These clocked devices are common in ignoring the inputs except where there is a transition of a dedicated clock signal. Clocking may lead to a case where the flip-flop retains or changes its output signal basing on the input signal values at the transition (Roth, 1995). Certain flip-flop does change the output upon the rising edge of a click while other flip-flops change on the falling edge. Now that the elementary amplifying stages are always inverting, the two stages can easily be connected as cascade in succession forming the required none-inverting amplifier (Mano & Charles, 2004). In such

Critically analyse the value of Roche's dramatological dimension Essay

Critically analyse the value of Roche's dramatological dimension perspective in helping us to understand the meaning of megaevents - Essay Example Another disadvantage is the threat f terrorism. First and foremost, a number f studies have shown that any city bidding for the Olympic Games is normally benefited with better infrastructure including new transport systems, latest media and communication's equipments and high standard sport facilities. For example, according to Gerlin, Sydney, where the Summer Games 2000 was organised, has been left with an expanded airport, a large number f main roads upgraded, and especially new and high standard sport facilities including the gigantic Telstra Stadium ( 2005, 54). Besides, the Games usually gives the host city an incentive to transform itself that otherwise might never have been attempted (Burton, 2003, Internet). This may be illustrated by the Barcelona 1992 Games. Gerlin mentioned that before bidding for the Games, insufficient road access, airport and coastline was what this city tackled. However, the Games created opportunity for Barcelona to be financed with ambitious projects. As a result, after the Olympics, Barcelona re ceived a noticeable new appearance such as new seafront, underground roads, and become one f the most favourite tourist destinations in Europe ( 2005, 52, 53). The second advantage is the increasing ability to obtain greater economic growth. ... For example, the report f PriceWaterhouse Coopers about the business and economic benefits f the Sydney 2000 informed that the Games helped NSW earn $3 billion in business outcomes, over $6 billion from tourists spending during 2001, received more than $6 billion f investments and so on (New South Wales Department f State and Regional Development, year unknown, Internet). Such changes may create more job opportunities, increase business income, raise Government budget and encourage economic activities. In support, those benefits mentioned above may be the reason why Barcelona experienced such a significant growth that doubled every year from 1986 to 1991 (Preuss, 2004, 65). Finally, bidding for the Games is an extreme opportunity for any city and country to enhance its national pride and image due to its increases in international exposures, found out by the KPMG Peat Marwick studies (Toohey & Veal, 2000, 209). Concurrently, Preuss proved that the Games is the quickest and most effective way to show the major changes in the hosting country to the world economy. For instance, South Korea was able to replace the image f a developing country by a modern and high technology industry thanks to staging the Olympics. Another important example is the case f the Sydney Olympics 2000. Young and Rubican found that before the Games, foreigners often considered Australia as country f great source f raw material. However, after the Olympics, the image f Australia has been changed in to a "friendly, fun and trust worthy" tourist destination (Preuss, 2004, 20, 48). It should be noticed that those increases in the world's level f awareness about the host country are rea lly important, because not only do they attract a vast number f future

Methods of Quality Improvement Statistics Project

Methods of Quality Improvement - Statistics Project Example Furthermore, the R-chart shows no points outside the upper control limit or lower control limit. Therefore, the process is under statistical control and we can say that from the perspective of process variation, the process is in control. x-bar chart measures the central tendency (accuracy) of a process and indicate whether changes have occurred. R-chart measures the variability (dispersion) of a process. R-chart indicates that a gain or loss in uniformity has occurred. R-chart is independent from process mean. x-bar chart and R-chart are used together to monitor variables in process are in control (or not). R-chart is monitored before the x-bar chart. This is because the x-bar chart limits rely on the average range and if process variability is not stable and is affected by special causes, then is not a reliable estimate of variability, and thus the x-bar chart limits are less meaningful (Moore et. al., 2011). The R-chart indicates that the process variability is in control, as all the ranges for the subgroup are in-between upper and lower control limits and there is no unusual pattern, as we move from left to right on the R-chart. However, the x-bar chart indicates that the process accuracy is not in control, as not all the means for the subgroup are in-between upper and lower control limits. Rational sub-groupings are used in constructing control charts so that the individual observations within the subgroups have been measured under similar process conditions. The main idea behind rational sub grouping is that if the individual observations within the subgroups are as homogeneous as possible, then any special causes disrupting the process will be reflected by greater variability between the subgroups. When special causes are present in the process, rational sub-grouping attempts to maximize the likelihood that subgroup statistics will signal that the process is

Change Management of the Company Engaged in a Merger Term Paper

Change Management of the Company Engaged in a Merger - Term Paper Example Effective management of change process in an organization is vital as this determines and contributes to a successful implementation of the changes. Change implementation in an organization is a process which if well managed it can lead to a decrease in change resistance and higher productivity, competitiveness, and profitability of an organization. The management should come up with strategies to ensure that the change management process is successful. For effective change management to take place, the human resource must be highly involved it is the gear towards attaining a change in an organization. Change is naturally detested especially because of the uncertainty it leads to and as such, cases of resistance must occur. Effective management of resistance is vital in ensuring that the changing process runs smoothly and quickly. As mentioned, the management must ensure that the changes which are about to be implemented in an organization are highly appreciated by the workers. Manag ement should engage in dialogue with the workers so as to ensure changes are implemented. Training and counseling are also vital in enhancing change management in an organization (Johnson, 1992). ABC Company a high-tech company, being faced with hyper-competition decided to engage in a merger with two of its competitors. The merger required a major changing process, especially because the other two competitors were employing completely different management and production styles. This required implementation of a change management process which is explained below. Competition has been on the rise which is caused by globalization, dynamism in the technological environment and emergence of competitive companies in the market. This has necessitated constant changes in most organizations which are aimed at taking advantage of opportunities posed by the environment while at the same time minimizing costs and threats which the environment poses.

Global Business Entry Strategy Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Global Business Entry Strategy - Research Paper Example The organization was founded by Todd Park and Jonathan Bush in 1997. The company became public in 2007 when the managers of the firm sold its shares in public. The company’s headquarters is at Watertown in Massachusetts and it has branches in India. The Health Inc may penetrate the United Arab Emirates market through the use of Greenfield investment. Greenfield investment is one that involves building a manufacturing plant from the ground until it becomes a fully operating company. This means that an organization transfers its competencies in the new market so that it can produce all its products in this location (Rogmans, 2012). The managers of Athena Health Inc need to start by acquiring a license that allows the company to construct a plant and conduct business in UAE. The managers should then plan how they will begin the investment project after purchasing land and acquiring permission to conduct business in the country. The business plan includes projection of costs of constructing the firm and the profits that the business expects to earn in the new business (Rogmans, 2012). The company will hire experts such as engineers and experts when making the plan so that they can help in the predictions of technical aspects of the business. For example, the company must hire environmentalists who will help in forecasting the organization’s future level of pollution. The company must then write an environmental report and present it to the UAE environment authorities for approval. This is because each country has an acceptable level of pollution beyond which firms are not expected to continue their operations (Hubbard, 2013). The company will create relationships with the government through the tax department, and the environmental authorities in the new location. This is because the organization has an obligation to file its tax returns and not exceed the acceptable level of pollution. The company may create

The “tanorexics” Essay Example for Free

The â€Å"tanorexics† Essay They’re desperate for a   sun fix. They spend hours incarcerated in hi-tech coffins. Cayte Williams meets the â€Å"tanorexics† Youre lying in a big plastic cocoon. Weird blue light beats down at you through hi-tech glass and there’s a strange humming noise. Youre naked and sweating profusely. Have you been abducted by aliens for experimental tests? No, youre lying on a sunbed and if youre doing it more than once a week then you could be seriously addicted. The Imperial Cancer Research Fund (ICRF) recently released a fact sheet outlining the dangerous effects of indoor tanning. â€Å"There is extreme concern for ‘tanorexics’,† says Christine Suggars, a spokesperson for the ICRF. â€Å"Especially people who have a dangerous desire for a permanent tan and use sunbeds more than once a week.† So who are these walking raisins, and why do they need a regular sunbed fix? Often tanorexics prefer to buy a sunbed rather than visit a suntanning salon. And let’s face it, anyone who’s prepared to fork out  £1,600 on the initial machinery must have one hell of a habit. â€Å"I bought a sunbed 10 years ago,† recalls Jane Horwood, a 37-year- old interior designer. â€Å"I used it once a week at first, but this gradually became once a night. I used to go on it religiously after work and hated it when I couldnt go underneath.† It’s like smoking. Even though I knew I shouldn’t be under there, I couldnt stop myself,† she confesses. â€Å"I wanted to look healthy and was really upset that when I got pregnant my doctor told me I couldn’t go on the sunbed. It’s an obsession with self image and self esteem, like anorexia. If you’re browner, you think you’re going to have a nicer lifestyle, be more attractive. If I hadn’t got pregnant I would never have stopped.† Over use of sunbeds can lead to all kinds of nasty side-effects. â€Å"Apart from premature skin ageing, people who use sunbeds for more than 20 sessions of 30 minutes per year run the risk of developing skin fragility,† says Doctor Julia Newton Bishop, consultant dermatologist at St James’ University Hospital in Leeds. â€Å"The skin becomes very thin with a transparent texture and it bruises and blisters easily. Normally I would only expect to see this problem in the elderly but I have seen some young patients suffering from  this who over-use tanning equipment.† â€Å"An average 30 minutes on a sunbed gives you the same dose of UVA rays as a day at the beach,† says Christine Suggars. â€Å"UVB rays have been linked to skin cancer for many years, but it’s only now that the concern is growing over the effects of UVA rays. UVB rays affect the top layer of the skin, the epidermis, and also the melanocyte cells, to produce brown pigment,† she explains. â€Å"UVA rays penetrate the skin more deeply, damaging the elastin (which keeps the skin supple) and collagen (which maintains the skin’s thickness) in the skin’s middle layer, causing sagging skin and wrinkles.† This is not good news for the suntanning industry The Tanning Shop opened its first branch in the UK in 1992 and now has over 150 branches around the country. The company advocates â€Å"controlled tanning† and specialised programmes can cost up to  £399 a year. â€Å"People arent happy just to pop into a booth anymore,† explains marketing co-ordinator Rachel O’Donnell. â€Å"They want us to tell them what to do.† Customers are warned about the dangers of over-tanning and are given a ‘consultation’ before their first sunbed session. â€Å"They can only ever have a session every second day and fair-skinned people are allowed six minutes a session which might go on to 10 minutes eventually. Customers are more fussy about what they get,† says O’Donnell. The Tanning Shops’ black vertical tanning booths look unnervingly like upright coffins, but tanorexics will not be put off. â€Å"I go two to three times a week,† says 27-year-old accountant, Victoria Williams. It makes me feel healthier, just like when you come back from holiday.† Victoria started using sunbeds to clear up a skin complaint, but now she’s hooked. â€Å"I did worry about addiction,† she says, â€Å"so I didnt go on the sunbed for a month, but I started to get miserable when I got pasty. I wanted that heat and warmth on my body.† Is she worried about the latest sunbed scare? â€Å"You have BSE, listeria, salmonella,† she says defiantly â€Å"I think there is some scare every week and it’s over-hyped. I would only stop using sunbeds if they were banned.† A favourite haunt of the shameless tanorexic is Electric Beach in London’s Covent Garden. Here models and media people pop in for a top-up on a regular basis. On Saturday, the last celebs seen crossing its portats were Luke and Matt Goss, formerly of Bros. Who says tanning isn’t trendy? â€Å"We are looking to cater for those people who  live a London life,† says managing director Philip Hodgeson. â€Å"People go in and they come out tanned. We use bulbs as opposed to tubes with a potassium filter, which filters out 99.9 per cent of the UVB rays.† While women openly admit to tanning addiction, men are much more secretive. Last year Paddy Ashdown suffered great embarrassment when a beautician let slip that he’d checked in for a session on a sunbed. It seemed his rugged outdoor tan was of the indoor variety and the Lib Dem office put the habit down to his doctor’s advice for soothing a minor skin complaint. John Stevens (not his real name), a 28 year old lawyer, identifies with Paddy’s blushes over his ruddy complexion. â€Å"When youre tanned you look healthy, fit and well travelled,† he says, â€Å"and in business it’s good, because it makes you look wealthier, like you can afford regular holidays. But there’s this unspoken idea that a ‘real man’ should get his tan doing something rugged and adventurous. I would never want my mates to know that I use a sunbed.† And, of course, there’s Essex Man with his perennial tandoori tan. â€Å"There’s one who co mes in every night,† says Shauney Taylor of Tanning Trends in Barking. â€Å"He’s in his 30s, he’s working out, and wants the tan to go with it. You know what men are like,† she muses. â€Å"They want to be Peter Andre.†

Cambridge Engineering Selector Essay Example for Free

Cambridge Engineering Selector Essay Apparatus Computer Cambridge Engineering Selector database program Theory The Problem Below is a brief description of the theory regarding this lab: Oars are light, stiff beams. They must also have reasonable fracture toughness (KIC) and acceptable price per unit mass (Cm). The performance index for a light, stiff beam is: M1 = E1/2/? Where E is the Youngs modulus and ? is the density. To select the best materials, perform two selection stages: (i) In stage 1, select materials with M1 7 (GPa) /(Mg/m) (ii) In stage 2, select materials with KIC 1 MPa. m and Cm 100 GBP/kg. CES Selector Materials for Oars: The solution The performance index for a light, stiff beam (M1) is plotted in stage 1. Density is plotted on the x-axis and Youngs Modulus on the y-axis. A selection line of gradient 2, through the point (1.0, 49) is plotted. The constraints on adequate fracture toughness and price are plotted in stage 2. Fracture Toughness is plotted on the x axis and Density on the y axis. A selection box whose upper left corner is at (1.0, 100) is defined. In stage 1, the line representing the performance index is moved up until only a small subset of records remains in the selection. Magnified views of the two selection charts are shown in figures M5.3.1 and M5.3.2 (results intersection and hide failed records on), and the materials passing both stages are shown in figure M5.3.3. Oars for competitive rowing are made from Spruce, or (better) Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer (CFRP). Low Tech oars have been made for centuries out of bamboo. Boron Carbide might be acceptable, but it would be too brittle, despite its moderate fracture toughness. Selection Stages The selection methodology behind CES Selector is described in section 1 of the online book CES In Depth Background on Selection Systems. The application of this selection methodology to a specific area (e.g. the selection of the optimum material for an engineering component) is dealt with in the section of CES In Depth for the relevant data module. Before any selection can be performed, the user must specify which of the data tables will be the Selection Table (e.g. Materials, Process etc). This is done in the Project Settings dialog box (or on the Welcome screen when CES is first opened). Only one table can be used for selection in a given project. The filter and form for each data table must also be specified. The recommended filter and form combination for each type of selection is listed below. Selecting records with Selector involves performing a series of independent selection stages. On each stage, the user selects a subset of records. Every record in the current filter for the Selection Table is considered during each stage, and the program automatically keeps track of all the results. One way to perform a selection is to use a Selection Chart. The two axes of a selection chart specify record attributes. The user selects the area of the chart that fulfils the selection criteria. One selection chart is used for each selection stage. A second way to perform a selection is to use a Limit stage, in which numerical limits for one or more attributes are entered in a table. Limit stages can be combined with graphical stages (using selection charts). A single functional requirement (e.g. the strength/density ratio of a material) can be represented by one stage in Selector. In many design situations it is necessary to identify records that satisfy several functional requirements simultaneously, for example high strength/density, high stiffness and low cost/kg for a material. In these cases Selector can perform several selection stages and the program will store the results of each stage automatically. The selection stages can be modified at any time if necessary. At the end of the selection (or at any other time), the user can find out which records passed all, or some of the selection stages. It is important to realise that in this strategy, all records contained in the selection table with applicable data entries are considered in every selection stage (and are plotted on the charts). Therefore each stage is independent of the others. This means that records are never discarded from the selection process, even though they may fail a particular selection stage. So it is possible to find out how every entity performed on each of the stages. The ones that pass all stages will probably be the best choices. Selector can also generate plots of user-defined attributes, which are mathematical combinations of the attributes in the database. Examples are the specific strength el / (el is the elastic limit and is the density), and the performance index for a light stiff beam E / (E is the Youngs Modulus). This facility greatly expands the versatility of the selection process and enables two complex performance requirements to be compared on one selection chart. CALCULATION OF THE GRADIENT FOR BOTH GRAPHS The gradient of the lines in both graphs were calculated using the performance index for the bending of rods, the formula used was: E/P = Youngs Modulus / Density In order to get the above equation into the correct term for a gradient or a curve (y=m x + c) both sides of the equation had to be logged: LOG E LOG ? = LOG C Transpose for LOG E LOG E = LOG ? + LOG C The equation for a straight line is y = mx + c From the above it is fair to mention that: Y = LOG E X = LOG ? M = 1 The performance used in this lab was E 1/2 / P = C If you take log on both sides of the equation above: 1/2 LOG E LOG ? = LOG C Transpose for 1/2 LOG E: LOG C + LOG ? = 1/2 LOG E Multiply both sides by 2 to get LOG E LOG E = 2 LOG ? + 2 LOG C From the above it can be assumed that: Y = LOG E M = 2 X = LOG ? C = 2 LOG C M (The gradient) = 2 The gradient in the first graph of Density Vs. Youngs Modulus is 2. If another performance index is used: K IC / p = c The log of both sides of the equation gives: 2/3 LOG K ic = LOG ? + LOG C Multiply both sides 3/2 gives: LOG K ic = 3/2 log ? + 3/2 log c Y = LOG K ic M = 3/2 X = LOG ? C = 3/2 LOG C M = 3/2 = 1.5 The gradient of the line in the second graph of Fracture Toughness Vs. Density is 1.5 Method The Cambridge engineering selector was the program that was used in order to get the desired materials. The main two properties that the chosen material requires are strength and toughness. In order to get the right material two graphs had to be plotted. The first graph was Youngs Modulus vs. Density and the second graph was Fracture toughness vs. Density. The first thing that had to be done was to select the right units, which are SI units. This was done by going onto Tools, selecting options and then the correct units and currency which was GB Pounds. Select New Project from the File menu Choose the New Graphical Stage command from the Project menu. The Graph Stage Wizard will appear, ready to define the x and y axis of your chart. The procedure for selecting attributes for plotting on the selection chart axes is the same for both axes (and whichever selection table). The steps are as follows: The X-Axis page is presented first. To specify a single attribute, click once on the down arrow to display the drop down list box. Select one attribute, Density. (The Advanced function could be used to create a combination of attributes for one axis.) The title can be changed by the user by typing in the Title field if desired. Let the settings for the axis Scale remain as the default, Logarithmic and Autoscale. You can change the scales to linear and back again, by clicking one of the radio buttons marked Logarithmic and Linear. To switch to the Y-Axis page click once on the other tab. Select the attribute Youngs Modulus from the drop down list box and let the scale be Logarithmic and Autoscale. Click once on OK to exit the dialog. The graph will then be created. Follow the same steps to create the other graph except this time, the y-axis is going to be Fracture toughness. Once both graphs are created, the gradient, which was worked out earlier, has to be put in. In the graph showing Youngs Modulus vs. Density the gradient is 2 and for the graph showing Fracture toughness vs. Density it is 1.5. To put in a gradient line, simply click on the icon on the toolbar which has a picture of a gradient on it. Then a box will appear asking you to enter a value for the gradient. Once the value of the gradient is entered, the gradient will appear on the graph. The line can be moved up and down the graph depending on what kinds of materials are needed. In order to narrow down the number of materials to a few, the line has to be moved carefully upwards until only a few materials are shown in the box. This has to be done for both graphs until only 4 or 5 materials appear in the box showing both stages. Results Engineering Materials Lab All Stages Name Identity Epoxy/HS Carbon Fibre, UD Composite, 0à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Lamina MXP_CFTSEPHCUD001 Low Density Wood (Longitudinal) (0.22-0.45) MNW_L_LD Medium Density Wood (Longitudinal) (0.45-0.85) MNW_L_MD PEEK/IM Carbon Fibre, UD Composite, 0à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Lamina MXP_CFTPPEICUD001 Conclusion After looking and analysing the results taken from the two graphs, the materials chosen were Epoxy SMC (carbon fibre), low density wood, and medium density wood. ). But in the economical end of manufacturing rowing boat oars, both the wood materials would be selected, as they are reasonably cheap to buy, whereas carbon fibre is more expensive. Costs of materials are not the only concern, as the usage of each material is just as important. Questions could be asked; such as, how often is the boat going to be used? Is it going to be used on a regular basis? All of these questions should be taken into consideration before a decision is made. If an average person who is not a professional rower was going to consume a rowing boat ore, he/she would be better off opting for the one made from low density wood as the wooden ore is a great deal cheaper. On the other hand if the same question was asked to a professional rower, then the rower would pick the ore made of carbon fibre since the price does not come at the top of the list of concern and winning the race is the major objective. Basically, there is a good point and a bad point on each material. This largely depends on the object of buying the ore. If it is to win a race then money is not an option and the consumer would be better off buying the one made from carbon fibre but if the object is to just go rowing for a weekend then the best option would be to go for the oar made from wood simply because there is no likely consistent further use for the ore.

Principles of Systems Design and Engineering

Principles of Systems Design and Engineering A decent systems designer ought to consider the majority of the practices of a systems overall in the connection of its surroundings is the systems viewpoint. They need to consider and see the systems in a comprehensively approach as opposed to decaying the systems into separated parts consequently verifying collaboration among the systems and nature happens bringing about fruitful finishing of the venture. Human relations: For a single person to be effective in his way he ought to have the quality to be socially capable and keep up great human relations. As a systems engineer he brings all orders of building under one cloud and structure a systems and verify it streams according to plan by keeping up and decreasing the contentions among the distinctive divisions. Data and information: Technically a systems designer ought to have great aptitudes in parallel to the administrations traits. Specialized discernment ought to be an innate quality to be an effective systems engineer. Having sound learning about the methodology guarantees the specialist to plan for the procedure in this way making the systems dependable. Creative energy and inventiveness: Imaginative and innovative aptitudes characteristics the systems design in arranging and anticipating impediments for the stream of the systems. He ought to have the capacity to judge and expect the issues and be prepared for its answers so that there are no unsettling influences in the Objective judgment abilities: Time is a critical component for the systems to effective. A fit systems specialist ought to have decision making ability capacities and target arranged. Taking choices in the opportune time is as essential as taking right choices. A systems engineer has a comprehensive methodology while customary designers are bound to just there zone of ability. A systems specialist have grasp on the aggregate extend and need to have learning and data with respect to all phases of the venture while conventional architect degree is limited to just their separate territory, for example, outlining, fabricating, investigation and so on. A systems specialist outlines the periods of the task, while the conventional architect lives up to expectations in those stages. The systems architect suspects future blocks and get prepared with exchange answers for verify the methodology is not irritated while conventional specialist meets expectations inside their limit successfully. Spontaneous creation of the methodology of a venture is taken care by the systems specialist while extemporization of the specialized angles will be carried out by customary architect. A systems architect meets expectations both on the specialized angle and in addition deals with the venture, while conventional specialist does provide food just the specialized prerequisites of the undertaking. Technical Performance Measures (TPM) are quantitative qualities (evaluated, anticipated, and/or measured) that depict systems execution. These speak to basic specialized cut off points and objectives for accomplishment of the venture. It empowers us in making a procedure of foreseeing the future variable of a critical specialized execution parameter of the larger amount finished item a work in progress in view of current appraisals of items lower in the systems structure. Specialized Performance parameters helps in qualifying the whole systems and let us know how the execution of the systems at each one stage subsequently keeping any potential dangers for the venture. The parameters utilized as comparators are gotten from investigations or tests. By contrasting the first values and these we can judge the present position in this way taking the separate measures for the systems to be fruitful. By having these parameters under control we can intermittently measure and profile the first values and check whether they fall inside as far as possible or can promptly anticipate the possibility. With the assistance of TPMs an association will have the capacity to do helplessness evaluation and also result appraisal accordingly hazard evaluation could be possible at the early phase of the undertaking to backing suitable edge allotment. At last, TPMs can likewise be utilized for the expectation of achievement or it gives in advance the data of the venture when it is beneath the situated edge. Select a system and describe the following characteristics of that system: (i) Purpose (ii) Intended customer (iii) Stakeholders (iv) Components (v) Resources (vi) Environment in which system is developed and used. Let us consider a Personal Emergency Response System (PERS) in order to describe the following data and how the system follows in its stages Ref: http://www.halomonitoring.com/ Purpose: The reason for this systems is to give the important civilities to the people particularly senior subjects if there should arise an occurrence of foes. Intended customer: In all probability senior citizens, medically unstable, youngsters and so forth Stakeholders Ambitious people keen on restorative field. Components: The individual crisis reaction systems comprises of medicinal caution gadget which can be worn much the same as a watch or can be worn around neck at the comfort of the client. Such gadgets need to join with the neighbourhood web so as to transmit information to the concerned persons when required. The part comprises of a battery which needs to routinely charge relying on the utilization of the gadget. Single SOS catch makes it less entangled even to the elderly individuals or outwardly weakened people. Resources: A crisis call focus is the real backing to the gadget. At the point when the gadget is actuated physically or naturally the individual tries to contact the separate individual parallel to the crisis reaction group. With the assistance of GPS accessible in the gadget the crisis reaction group (EMS-Emergency Medical Services) acts immediately based upon the prerequisites at first accessible in the server about the work force utilizing the gadget. The guardian additionally alarms the people under the ICOE (In Case of Emergency) contact. One focal point of this gadget is, it consequently makes an impression on the contact officially sustained into the systems about the circumstances. Environment in which systems is created and utilized: The systems is created as the quantity of situations where individuals are left unattended because of no correspondence. It is perfect for elderly individuals living alone or for working folks with little youngsters being left in their room. Select a system of your choice and develop operational functional flow block diagrams (FFBDs) to the third level. Select one of the functional blocks and develop maintenance functional flows to the second level. Show how the maintenance functional flow diagram evolves from the operational flows.

Modernist Opera :: Modernism Music Art Opera Essays

Modernist Opera Modernism, a major artistic movement of the first half of the twentieth century, is traditionally a classification of the visual arts, including such schools as Abstraction, Impressionism, and Expressionism. In architecture, too, was Modernism recognized, in the work of people like Frank Lloyd Wright. Even in literature, with the increasing use of symbolism, Modernism was an influence. Modernists in all of these art forms are consciously engaged in the expansion of the boundaries of their art, and in asking their audiences to reject the status quo, both of the art and of some aspect of society or culture the art form addresses. When faced with a discussion about the possibility of the existence of Modernist opera, classificationists around the world can be heard coughing quietly into their drink and muttering something vague about having somewhere else to be. Until recently, opera and Modernism were two terms rarely, if ever, heard together. The large amount of scholarshi p that has been devoted to the study of Modernism and its principles has not been extended with the same vigour to include its application to opera. Questions have been raised about whether it is even possible to define â€Å"Modernist opera,† and few have attempted such a feat. I confess some confusion as to why the issue raises such difficulties. An examination of just three of the operas written in the time period, Richard Strauss’s Salome, Alban Berg’s Wozzeck, and Kurt Weill’s The Threepenny Opera, shows us that a categorization of Modernism is not inappropriate to the genre. Like the visual and literary arts of the time, these operas are attempting to redefine their genre and to bring public awareness both to the possibilities of the genre and to societal issues. Perhaps I will begin my argument about the suitability of a category of Modernist opera with a small disclaimer. It is important to note that, as far as opera is concerned, there is no definite boundary between pre-Modernist works and Modernism itself. One can argue that Wagner’s attempts in the nineteenth century to make opera into something new are examples of an early Modernist inclination. Wagner had new ideas so immense that he had to build his own theatre to house them. His interest in revolutionary politics and in the philosophical ideas of great thinkers like Nietzsche is certainly unique for opera composers prior to the twentieth century.

Face to Face with Death in Hagar :: Hagar Essays

Face to Face with Death in Hagar As Hagar faces implications of growing old, she starts on a tumultuous journey, not one of her own choice, but one of destiny. She goes through different stages of denial, anger, bargaining, depression and finally acceptance of the fact that death will come, invited or not. At one time every individual is faced with death, horrific to the young, or inviting to the sick and the old. Death is interpreted as the end of existence, but to those who believe in the afterlife, as a whole new chapter of the unknown. When Hagar realizes the proximity of death, she is in denial. She comes to live in a world of memories in the past. She created her own illusion because she cannot understand the weakness coming forth in her, like her tears "the incontinent wetness of the infirm" (pg. 31). All her life, she was hard, never showing emotion, even through the death of John. You can see her softening near the end, although she would not admit it. In addition to denial, she reaches a stage of anger and indignance with herself and others in the small world that is her life. She can no longer perform the simplest tasks such as dressing herself or walking down the stairs. It irks her to need help, which is one of the reasons she can't stand Doris. She is also angry at the lack of emotional control as she perceives how "laden with self‑pity" (pg. 31) her voice sounds when arguing with Marvin in one instance. She cannot control how her "mouth speaks by itself, the words flowing from somewhere, some half hidden hurt" (pg. 68). After the denial and anger begin to fade, she attempts a short bargaining period where she wonders what if. She even tells God to bless her or not "just as You please" (pg. 307), but she would not beg. But even though she attempts to wrestle against the inevitable, there is always a constant reminder. She places her belief in herself only and faults other's credibility, such as Doctor Tappen's, to maintain the illusion now hanging by a flimsy thread. When Hagar realizes she cannot control or stop the process of old age, she becomes depressed and distant. When she hears about Silverthreads, she is "overcome with fear, the feelings one has when the ether mask goes on, when the mind cries out to the limbs, 'flail against the thing', but the limbs are already touched with lethargy, bound and lost" (pg.

Anne Bradstreet :: essays papers

Anne Bradstreet Anne Bradstreet’s poetry reflects Puritan thinking like sunlight softly shimmering on a quiet country pond. There is life and much activity just below the quiet surface, yet one must look below to discover its depth. As the first notable poet in American literature, it is fitting that this young woman, a product of an atypical upbringing, should use her extensive education to express thought and emotion well beyond the writings of her time. Still, her writings always reflected the natural values and religious foundation of her time period. In the poem IN REFERENCE TO HER CHILDREN she writes , â€Å" I had eight birds hatched in one nest, Four cocks there were, and hens the rest. I nursed them up with pain and care, Nor cost , nor labour did I spare, Till at the last they felt their wing, Mounted trees and learned to sing † ( 1 – 6 ). This imagery is very concrete, she need not describe the chirping of the fledglings or the rustling of the leaves as the nest sways gently on its arborous perch. Yet the reader provides this filler because she writes in a manner that is familiar to us all. Certainly it is familiar to the Puritans, who no doubt were in tune with nature. The very survival of the Puritans depended on their interaction and understanding of nature. Although, she expresses her instinctive motherly concerns in her writing , the poem ends in an expression of realistic resolve to the inevitable cycle of life. â€Å"Farewell, my birds, farewell adieu, I happy am, if well with you.† It is not only her observations that Anne Bradstreet shares with us, but she truly lets her feelings take form in her prose. This is really the first time in American literature that an author has opened the door to the room of their inner emotions. In fact, she never really thought that they would be published or even read at all by anyone else. What a loss it would have been to us all if we never had the opportunity to share Anne Bradstreet’s experiences with her. She had much to offer even though she was critical of her own writings. In the poem

My Favorite Show Essay

I have many favorite shows; one of my favorite would have to be Prison Break. There are so many reasons why it’s my favorite. My main reason is the plot of the story/show. Two brothers who broke out of jail with a group of other prisoners. Another reason is the suspense of the show. It’s literally impossible to guess what’s going to happen next. My last reason is probably just me but the little messages the show gives here and there. Messages in the sense of what it shows for what a real friendship should look like. The plot of the show is two brothers of which the young one, Michael Scofield, gets himself thrown in jail to break his older brother, Lincoln Burrows, out who is sentenced to death for a crime he didn’t commit. With just that happening in the show it’s amazing. People escaping you can see happening, but getting thrown in jail to break someone else out is interesting. Also what got my attention is how Michael planned the escape. Besides being a genius, he tattooed the prisons blueprints and needed information on how to stay out on his body. There was never a boring episode, since day one in prison the escape started he just needed to get the people necessary to escape from the prison like: the guy with the money, the guy with the transportation, and finally he needed his cell mate to agree. Finally, the relationship between both of the brothers. It isn’t your typical love story between brothers. They weren’t in each other’s life after they turned 18. And for Michael to break Lincoln out even after they lost touch of each other and Michael never showed any understanding of why Lincoln is a bum. It’s interesting that he still risked his entire career and life for this escape. Another reason is the suspense of the show, and how true it is to its category. You can never guess what’s going to happen next, for example, the first season starts off right, everything is going as planned and then the first attempt to escape isn’t what everyone expects when the escape fails. After that episode, I was completely hooked on it. I also liked that Michael kept part of the plans to himself; he never revealed his complete plan to anyone, keeping the audience in complete suspense as in how is he going to pull it off. Also, it’s very emotional not in your typical love story between both characters but in every relationship within the characters. I think it’s very popular with other shows that it’s just two characters and forget about the others. The show was very true to its point/plot. Finally, my personal reason to loving the show is the little messages/quotes they sent throughout the series. The friendship between Michael and his cellmate, Sucre. It was as if they were the brothers, very close, always had each other back. They had their differences but sometimes people have to realize that there’re more important things when time is limited. The relationship with the brothers was very different and admirable. I appreciated that a lot and I can honestly say it made the relationship with my brother and me a lot closer and stronger. Michael and Lincoln aren’t really brother’s even though they find out at the end Michael never stopped his plan and that was inspiring because it showed that nothing was going to separate them nothing was going to stop them from being free. My favorite quote from the show is you can’t go back and have new beginnings, but you can start now and have a happy ending. I find so much meaning into this quote. You obviously cant start a new beginning, but you can always change the end if it’s going terrible. When Michael told Lincoln this I was convinced that Michael truly loved Lincoln even though they were really brothers. I understood even though we weren’t born brothers, we’re dying brothers. In conclusion, I became obsessed with Prison Break. The show was so creative and amazingly written. The cast in my opinion did an amazing job they were so believable. The suspemse of the show was good and was smart; they never revealed the entire plan. Then there’s the messages the show throws out. You have to stay true to your own. Family is family at the end.

In Africa, AIDS Has a Woman’s Face

The article In Africa, AIDS Has a Woman’s Face is about how women in rural Africa play a big role in the all around living of their families and how AIDS and H. I. V. is affecting it. What would be the outcome of Africa’s future if woman were no longer able to carry the same duties because of the AIDS epidemic? One of the main things is that woman in Africa are the back bone to the families and communities in general. Women are the ones that make all the decision and do the agricultural work. As we could say it, they are the ones that keep society going. There are many strengths in this income is coming in because of the agricultural and families are healthier for that. The author states, â€Å"When women are fully involved, the benefits can be seen immediately: Families are healthier; they are better fed; their income, savings, and reinvestments go up (Annan 307). But the same way we can see there are strengths, there is also a weakness. Most of the people that get affected by AIDS and H. I. V. are women. The author states, â€Å" A United Nations report released last month shows that women now make up 50 percent of those infected with H. I. V. orldwide- and in Africa that figure is now 59 percent (Annan 307). This just means that we need to help them women especially in the prevention of H. I. V. and AIDS. From personal experiences I strongly believe women are the backbone in any family. For example, I take care of feeding my husband and children as well as the women in this article. As Annan writes, â€Å"Women were the ones who found alternative foods that could sustain their children in time of drought (308). In my case, that is something I tend to do when money is tight. Educating my children in the best way possible, it is one of the things that I pray for over and over. Even that I am constantly letting them know what is right from wrong, as well as inculcating our cultural Hispanic habits. Annan states, â€Å"The recent United Nations report shows that H. I. V. infection rates in Uganda continue to decline (309). This means not only at that particular place, but in many different throughout Africa. That just shows how parents and teachers are getting more involved in the education of prevention of AIDS and H. I. V. I strongly believe that the women in Africa are an essential part of living and life. In Africa, women are the ones that keep everything going for a living. I totally agree with the author on educating the children the different ways of prevention for such a bad infection like it is AIDS and H. I. V. My husband donates directly out from his check to the AIDS foundation. Because I believe people should be educated on diseases and preventions. Women also are the ones that in most cases keep the families together as I do for mine. Many of the things I read on this article like how women are the core of a family in Africa to the education and prevention of AIDS and H. I. V. All these things are what we need to help on, so that Africa’s future won’t look much more affected and dark.

Domestic Violence among African Americans Essay

Domestic violence is abuse that occurs within a personal relationship. It can occur between former or current spouses or significant others. Domestic violence doesn’t have a name it affects both men and women of any race, religion; gay or straight; upper class or low class; adolescents, adults, or seniors. But most of its victims are women rather men. While domestic violence is present in all races, the existence among African Americans is significantly higher in the United States. There are many elements that have been shown to stimulate a person to engage in domestic violence examples are failing relationships, lack of employment, poor school systems, violent communities, drug use and the multitude of nearby accessible liquor stores. Experiencing any these situations can lead to strong emotions that can ultimately result in domestic violence. People who experience domestic violence are deeply affected and often live in fear. This plague has broken down and destroyed many African American communities. There are serious physical and mental health risks involved in domestic Violence. Abortion, stress, unconsented sexual encounters, possible suicides, complicated pregnancies and murder are few possible physical results from domestic violence. (Bent-Goodley, 2004) Abuse, control and violence are components of domestic violence. Neither the abuser nor the person being abused are winners in these type of situations. The abuser actions shows characteristics of controlling, anger, oppressor, possessiveness, power and liar. The abusers victims are usually people that can be manipulated, scared and shielded by the abuser. Although the abuser may be an adult most often their mental capacity displays child like behavior. A child will typically throw fits and become angry when things don’t go their way or they didn’t get what they wanted. This anger that possess is shown through mental and physical abuse . Abuser are usually not very open people and they believe that are right in every situation. However, they never take the blame for their actions and tend to blame others, most often their spouse. The victims  of abuse tend to show characteristics of having low self-esteem, sadness and being unconfident about themselves. Often the victim believes that this type of physical and verbal abuse should be inflicted upon them. (Agazie, 2011) Generally, a victim or spouse show signs of previously experiencing an unstable and hostile childhood, and possibly being abused as a child. As a result, they feel like an unwanted and scared child who is weak, instead of like an adult. African Americans who survive domestic violence, child abuse and community violence consistently engage in various types substance abuse at higher rates. (Hill, et al, 2012) African American abusers who has previously used a weapon or threatened their spouse with one during arguments, will more than likely kill them by lethal violence. It is stated that 80% of African American women who have murdered their partners had a history of abuse. Violence and nonviolence have been proven behaviors that are learned. Social and cultural beliefs, outlooks on life, examples, role models influences on whether a person decides to engage in volatile or nonvolatile behavior. It is very key to know how a person elects to use violence or nonviolence. (Wimberly, 2000) Statistics have shown that African American women are more prone to leave an abusive relationship and then return to it compared to white women. (Agazie, 2011) African American women suffer mistreatment over a long period of time and have a tendencies fight back. Close to 50% of victims that attempt to leave their abusive relationship are killed by their partners. (Williams, et al, 2008) African American women are brought up as younger girls under strong religious belief and family values. They are taught at a young age that once you get married you do what it takes not to become a victim of divorce. They are told that it may not be easy but you are married for life once you have made that commitment. With this type of upbringing African American women tend to procrastinate and often hesitate leaving an unhealthy marriage due to their beliefs. Most people don’t not understand the reasoning behind women staying in this form of relationship. While the reasons for their reluctances to leave an abusive relationship are uncertain, some likely justifications would be (1) when searching for a spouse African American women have a smaller amount of choices than White women; (2) African American women’s income is normally lower than of most  White women; (3) Black women are reluctant to call the police due to the trust that African American in the justice system. Unfortunately, most battered and abused Black women find no other way out of the relationship and resort to killing their partners. Losing financial means may also contribute to the reason why African American women of lower class are reluctant to report abuse. The abusing spouse may take care of the victim financially by providing a place to stay, clothes and food and, in order to keep their current living status so they remain quiet about the abuse. Reputation may play a part in why African American women of higher class hesitate to report abuse because they don’t want to put their reputation at risk. Another reason why abused victims remain quiet is because they may not be taken serious by law enforcement. It has been confirmed that domestic violence is treated more like a private family matter rather than serious matter. Typically when law enforcement is called to a domestic violence scene, no arrest is usually made and if they are ever prosecuted the case is usually dismissed. (Hampton, et al, 2008) In many cases I have found that the African American community seems to accept, if not encourage, the domestic violence that exists within it. While it is easy to blame education or social rank for a couple’s behavior or society’s reaction to it, these factors are often not as important as one might expect. A woman with multiple degrees or at the highest level of social strata is as vulnerable to domestic violence as the woman who did not graduate form high school. It equally as likely for a man who is born to an upper middle class family and a man born to a family tha t lives in poverty to participate in an abusive relationship. The Black church has always and continues to be a pillar of strength to Black families and communities. The Black church has been a powerful force in the Black community. Domestic violence is a tough situation to endure, so many African Americans turn to prayer to cope with the difficulties in their lives. (Watlington & Murphy, 2006) The Black church has been unreliable and, at times, inadequate in reacting to domestic violence situations. (Bent- Goodley, et al, 2012) For instance on August 22, 2007, Bishop Thomas Weeks, pastor of an independent ministry that worked out of the Global Destiny Church (Haines, 2007) assaulted his wife, Juanita Bynum. This assault is significant not only for the positions held by the participant, but also for the actions taken by the African American  community itself. According to Haines (2007) the community did not speak out against the pastor after the beating. Rather, some members of the community spoke in support for the pastor. Haines quotes one individual as posting a message to Weeks’ MySpace page that read, â€Å"Bishop Weeks, don’t be discouraged, but be encouraged. Stand firm and know that the Lord is mighty in battle†. Haines reports that another community member asked her own pastor about the Weeks domestic abuse case, only to find that â€Å"he had no reaction to the abuse and only provided him with scriptures.† making her wonder what he could offer her if she were a victim of domestic abuse (Haines, 2007). While this situation may be distressing, it is not unusual. According to Jordan (2005) â€Å"When African American men act as bullies toward African American women they tend to engage in active-passive renunciation†, which leaves abused women the choice of speaking out or being ostracized. What kind of message does this send? As a young girl I watched my mother be abused countless times by my very own father. She endured this abuse for many years and it appeared as though she would never leave him. It was as if she was accepting of it or had merely gotten used to it. Then one day after 13 years she left and didn’t look back. Although she didn’t speak out about it, she removed herself from the situation. Most of my family knew about the situation but never brought it up. Years later my father eventually changed for the better. I believe that change has to come from within. You can acquire help and assistance but until you want to change no one can help you. It is difficult to create successful programs and mediation approaches that are geared towards domestic violence without fully understanding how African Americans grasp and distinguish this disease. (Bent-Goodley, 2013) Domestic abuse is not distinctive to the African American community. As it stands, whether an African American woman is rich or poor, educated or not, she is at grave risk of being abused by her partner. As it stands, that woman is also at grave risk of being rejected by her community and even her family, if she speaks up about her abuse. Domestic abuse is not limited to only woman but the percentages are outstandingly high compared to an abused make victim. This violence must come to an end. Through education from within, it might be possible to initiate change. References Williams, Oliver J.; Oliver, William; Pope, Marcus. (2008). Domestic Violence in the African American Community. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, Vol. 16 Issue 3, p229-237. 9p. Agazie, Maxine. (2011). Cultural Considerations Impacting Domestic Violence Among African American Women: Implications for Social Work. Conflict Resolution & Negotiation Journal, Issue 1, p138-141. 4p. Watlington, Christina G.; Murphy, Christopher M. (2006). The roles of religion and spirituality among African American survivors of domestic violence. Journal of Clinical Psychology, Vol. 62 Issue 7, p837-857. 21p. Bent-Goodley, TB. (2013). Domestic Violence Fatality Reviews and the African American Community. HOMICIDE STUDIES, Vol. 17, Issue 4; p375-p390. Bent-Goodley, Tricia B. (2004). Perceptions of Domestic Violence: Health & Social Work, Vol. 29 Issue 4, p307-316. 10p. Hill, Nicholle; Woodson, Kamilah; Ferguson, Angela; Parks, Carlton. (2012). Intimate Partner Abuse among African American Lesbi ans: Prevalence, Risk Factors, Theory, and Resilience. Journal of Family Violence, Vol. 27 Issue 5, p401-413. 13p. Campbell, Jacquelyn; Campbell, Doris W.; Gary, Faye; Nedd, Daphne; Price-Lea, Patricia; Sharps, Phyllis W.; Smith, Cheryl. (2008). African American Women’s Responses to Intimate Partner Violence: An Examination of Cultural Context. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, Vol. 16 Issue 3, p277-295. 19p Bent-Goodley, Tricia; St. Vil, Noelle; Hubbert, Paulette. (2012). A Spirit Unbroken: The Black Church’s Evolving Response to Domestic Violence. Social Work & Christianity. 2012, Vol. 39 Issue 1, p52-65. 14p. Wimberly, Edward P. (2000). The Civil Rights Movement as a Potential Mentoring Model for Ending Domestic Abuse. Journal of Religion & Abuse, Vol. 2 Issue 1, p33. 16p. Hampton, Robert L. LaTaillade, Jaslean J.; Dacey, Alicia; Marghi, J. R. (2008). Evaluating Domestic Violence Interventions for Black Women. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma , Vol. 16 Issue 3, p330-353. 23p. Haines, E. (2007). Charges against husband put new focus on televangelist. USA Today.com. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2007-09-01-ynum_N.htm Jordan, L. M. (2005). Domestic violence in the African American community. Retrieved from http://new.vawnet.org/Assoc_Files_VAWnet/RoleoftheBlackChurch.pdf

Barbie-Q

The allure of Concerns' story-telling Lies In her ability to constantly introduce readers Into conflicting states of emotion. Clearly, while the subject's optimism Is consistent throughout the first paragraph, critical readers can detect subtle shifts In feelings which range from sheer exhilaration (as she describes her Barbie's Item with great fondness: ‘evening elegance In black glitter strapless gown', puffy skirt at the bottom like a mermaid tail', etc. To slight disappointment (from so much dressing and undressing, the black glitter wears off where her ditties stick noun and eventual solace (shown by her contentment with the self-made clothes). The light tone in â€Å"Barbie-Q† is of premium archetype, as the young girl's voice radiates enthusiasm and urgency. The pace in the first paragraph constantly picks up while the readers' emotion is dragged down. The initial tension heightens as readers see the protagonist's wish-list gets longer and longer, until she resort s to her own means n order to curb the fervor.The little narrator In â€Å"Bearable-Q† captures us In many ways. The lists she employed are rich In details as If everything Is read off from the labels. Her Insatiable desire to fill up her doll collection is not hidden. Is she an observant storyteller, or a fashions? Readers can split in opinions, but the young girl's obsession is inarguably not a matter of dispute. And while one may initially question, condemn and hold her fascination in negative light, the protagonist's motivated actions slowly make sense to the audience as the story unfolds.Her deprived world explains the playing habit and the tinge of Jealousy she tries to mask. Too child who has yet to enter school, a toy can be anything tangible. Unfortunately, such carefree consciousness is quickly reshaped when he Is exposed to the society and quickly sees himself being subjected to Its taste and sense of â€Å"perfection†. Yes, the story talks about superficial values. However, It Is the underlying aspiration of the protagonist to fit In and being normal, even temporarily, that makes this piece striking. The metaphorical Barbie doll is just a medium to criticize this unfair

A Review of Teamwork an Episode in Allegiance, an American Drama Series

A Review of Teamwork an Episode in Allegiance, an American Drama Series Reading Television: Allegiance Consumers are indulged by media through watching television based on themes that capture their attention. Recently, I watched an episode Teamwork from the TV show Allegiance on NBC. Allegiance is about Alex O’ Conner, who is a young man that does not know that his family are Russian spies. He works for the CIA as an analyst, which results in conflict of interests. His parents work for a spy organization, who wants the files, which can potentially destroy American core values. Alex is working with the CIA to foil Rezident’s plans in obtaining the files. In the episode Teamwork, Alex confronts his parents by accusing them that they are Russian spies. Throughout this whole episode, there are stereotypical examples that portray how media views men, women, people of color, and American nationalism. This episode portrays Russian stereotypes of women, men, politics and economy. Allegiance highlights prejudices, through representation based on character behavior in different scenarios. The music, shots, and characters represents the theme of allegiance and nationalism. The scene opens with Alex demanding to know the truth from his parents about Mikeal, because his files are a threat. Alex asked accusatory questions about Mikeal and his files. As a result, Katya becomes hysterical, and throws Alex off, by confessing that she had an affair, which was just another lie. This scene, portrayed the stereotype that Russian women are gold diggers, because they only want to live comfortably and be dependent on a male figure. When Katya mentioned she attended, border school in America, it also brought up a political notion of Russia sending children to America for better opportunities. During this whole scene, the music was quick, light and dramatic. This represented Alex’s mood on how he felt when Katya constantly disappeared when he was a child. Alex represents the American ideals which are justice and liberty, however Katya and Mark represent the Russian socialist mentality. There are many instances when we watch a series when we do not know the true reason why the director choose to shoot a scene a certain way. In this master shot, Alex is shown being angry. There are more superimposed shots when information is revealed about his mother’s disappearances. The argument gets more heated, there are close ups of Alex, Katya and Mark. The camera stays focused on Katya’s reaction from her affair confessions. When Alex’s youngest sister Sarah, walks into the kitchen, she is ignorant about the situation. Sarah symbolizes the innocence in not knowing that her family are spies. Natalie, is Alex’s older sister whose boyfriend is a Russian spy, who works for the enemy in NYC. Natalie plays a vital role by bugging Alex’s cellphone and computer as a way to collect information from the CIA. The scene opens with Natalie and Viktor in bed, being woken up by a phone call from Rezident. Viktor is told that Alex is threatening his parents if they do not tell him the truth. There is parallel editing between the scenes when Alex confronts his parents, to Natalie and Viktor rushing into traffic, and there is a zoom in shot of Roman (main boss of Rezident), giving the order to assassinate the family to emphasize the point that he is in charge. After Viktor and Natalie stop the assault, there is a POV shot of Alex leaving the apartment in shock. The music was heavy, during the montage shoots and parallel editing emphasized. This shows how close Alex learned the truth, until his mother lied to him again. When the scene closes, everyone is safe but appalled with Katya’s romantic affair confession. The scene jump cuts, to Moscow a year before Operation: Black Dagger was put into play. The scene shows a conference that include white, European men who are wearing either professional suits or military uniforms. The audience is portrayed into knowing that these men have decision making power. This represents the Russian society, as sexist towards women because they are behind in providing them equality. The entire scene shows a man speaking to a large group about weakness in American economy. They are questioning United States power, because their only punishment is sanctions. Since American global influence is decreasing, Moscow feels they are at an advantage. However, one of the military officers disagrees with Black Dagger and calls it madness. But the speaker counters that remark with â€Å"Madness is American sanctions, madness is the last of Soviet sovereignty†. This scene represents politics by explaining the importance of those missing files. The missing files contain a plan that could potentially destroy American core values. This episode presents different beliefs and loyalties that result in conflict of interests. Nationalism influences decision making in different characters. In this series, women are used as pawns to satisfy a male’s needs. One of the many stereotypes portrayed about women in the workplace is a scene with Sam and Michelle played by Kenneth Choi and Floriana Lima. Sam questions Michelle’s place in the workplace to what she replies â€Å"Oh Sam, you have such a constrained view of me.† This shows that that even though she is a successful Hispanic women working in a male-dominated field of law enforcement, her supervisor will never see her as equal. Also, when Michelle is told to get a search warrant from the New York Attorney General’s office, Sam tells Alex to accompany her. Sam believes she will not get the warrant on her own. This represents what women face today in the workplace. There is a scene with Natalie and Viktor; that portrays Natalie through a stereotype that women in a relationship needs a man’s approval to feel complete and happy. This is a stereotypical image that presents women as being insecure about themselves. A women’s opinion is also disregarded because they are viewed as inferior. Katya’s advice got completely brushed off by Mark, who choose to go his way to the Brooklyn Navy Yard. When Katya had a gun in her hands, Mark looked at her in fear. This shows that he felt uncomfortable with a women who had power. The Allegiance characters embody certain traits that are correct in some cases. Alex O’Conner, the main protagonist represents being a hero, he is a smart CIA analyst with a promising future. His supervisor Sam, is trying to groom him for a better position but, also feels threatened by his talent. Special Agent Brock is the overseer of the organization, and does not like his authority questioned. Roman also does not like his authority to be questioned. They all feel that when they are questioned, they would be viewed as less than a man. For example, Roman needed to regain his control by killing Viktor’s friend, as a way to show dominance. Mark plays the husband role, so his decisions cannot be questioned by either Katya or Natalie. A scene that shows this power struggle is when Mark confronts Katya about the affair. When Katya says that she had to make a decision for the family, Mark puts her in an inferior that she is not one to make them. This show is great in cont ext, however when it comes to stereotypes Allegiance is a show to see. Allegiance exhibits an interesting storyline that shows the intertwining between politics and family matters. However, the characters role in the show present stereotypes that can put people in a box. This show unintentionally creates views to have a limited mindset of the real world.