The Structure of Education from Early Years to Post-Compulsory Education

The structure of education from early years to post-compulsory education Entitlement & provision for early years education. As part of the every child matters agenda and the Childcare Act 2006 every child aged 3 & 4 is entitled to receive part time early years education of up to 12. 5 hours per week for 38 weeks of the year to ensure that they receive up to 2 years free education before reaching school age. The characteristics of schools & school governance. All schools are seeking to enforce expectations in terms of meeting the national curriculum. Under the National Curriculum there are four Key Stages to education: Foundation4 year olds Key Stage 15 to 7 year olds Key Stage 27 to 11 year olds Key Stage 311 to 14 year olds Key Stage 414 to 16 year olds Mainstream State Schools All children in England aged 5 to 16 are entitled to free education at a state school, most go to state schools. Nursery school: 3 to 4 year olds Reception: 4 year olds Primary: 5 to 11 year olds (Key Stage 1 & 2) Secondary: 11 to 16 (Key Stage 3 & 4) There are 4 main types of state school: Community schools, Foundation & Trust schools, Voluntary aided schools, Voluntary Controlled schools. Community schools These are run & owned by the local authority & cover all 4 Key Stages. Foundation & Trust schools Foundation schools are run by a governing body which employs the staff and sets the entrance criteria. Land and buildings are owned either by the governing body or by a charitable foundation. Trust schools are similar, but are run together with an outside body – usually a business or charity – which has formed an educational trust. Voluntary aided schools Voluntary-aided schools are religious or faith schools. Just like foundation schools, the governing body employs the staff and sets the entrance criteria. School buildings and land are usually owned by a charity, often a church. Voluntary Controlled schools Voluntary-controlled schools are a cross between community and voluntary-aided schools. The local authority employs the staff and sets the entrance criteria, like a community school, but the school land and buildings are owned by a charity, often a church, which also appoints some members of the governing body. Specialist schools State secondaries often specialise, which means they have an extra emphasis in one or two subjects. Schools can specialise in: the arts, maths and computing, business and enterprise, music, engineering, science, humanities, sports, languages, and technology. Special schools Special schools are for the education of students with special needs that addresses the students' individual differences and needs. This could involve the individually planned and systematically monitored arrangement of teaching procedures, adapted equipment and materials, accessible settings designed to help learners with special needs achieve a higher level of success in school and community than would be available if the student were only given access to a typical classroom education. State schools with particular characteristics There are a number of schools within the state schools system with particular characteristics, some may have different admission criteria or funding arrangements but as with other state schools admissions are coordinated by the local authority. Academies Academies are independently managed schools set up by sponsors from business, faith or voluntary groups in partnership with the local authority and the government Department for Children, Schools and Families. City Technology Colleges These are urban-based, independently managed secondary schools geared towards science, technology and the world of work. They offer a range of vocational qualifications as well as GCSEs and A levels. Community and foundation special schools Pupils at a special school have usually been assessed and given a statement of special educational needs (SEN). These may include learning disabilities or physical disabilities. Some special schools are funded by the local education authority. These could be community, voluntary-aided or controlled, or foundation special schools. Some special schools are independent. Faith schools Faith schools are mostly run in the same way as other state schools. However, their faith status may be reflected in their religious education curriculum, admissions criteria ; staffing policies. Grammar schools Grammar schools select all or most of their pupils based on academic ability. Maintained boarding schools Maintained boarding schools offer free tuition, but charge fees for board ; lodging. Independent schools An independent school (also referred to as a private school, or in England as a public school) is a school that is not financed through the taxation system by local or national government and is instead funded by private sources, predominantly in the form of tuition charges, gifts and long-term charitable endowments, and so is not subject to the conditions imposed by accepting state financing. Free schools Free Schools are normally brand-new schools set up by teachers, charities, community or faith groups, universities and groups of parents where there is parental demand. They will be set up as Academies and will be funded in the same way, directly from central government. They also share with Academies a greater control over their finances, the curriculum, and teachers' pay and conditions. Post 16 options for young people & adults. There are more opportunities now than ever before when it comes to post 16 education, previously pupils aged 16 or over either left school and started employment or stayed on to continue their studies. There has been an increase in government funding of education for 14-19 year olds and in particular a focus on reducing the number of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) post 16. Just under an estimated one million 16 to 24-year-olds (979,000 in total) are considered NEET, according to official figures published in August, of these, around 186,000 are aged 16-18. If you are aged 16 or 17 and coming towards the end of a school or college course, the â€Å"September Guarantee† means that you’ll definitely be able to continue learning. The September Guarantee Under the last Labour government the guarantee was as follows: * Full or part-time education in school, sixth form college, independent learning provider or further education (FE) college * An Apprenticeship or programme-led Apprenticeship, which must include both the training element and a job or work placement * Entry to Employment (E2E) * Employment with training to NVQ level 2 By 2013 all pupils will be required to continue in education or training to at least 17 years of age although under new governments this could change.

Marketing Mix Strategies for Maggi Essay

1.0 Introduction In year 1872, the factory job was created for women during the industrial revolution in Switzerland. Therefore, women were busy and have not enough time to prepare meals for their family. Julius Maggi, who took over his father’s mill, was requested to create a vegetable food product that would be quick to prepare and easy to digest. Maggi noodle was the first that contain protein rich legume meal to the market and followed by readymade soup based on legume meal in 1886. Maggi had merged with Nestle family in 1947 and launched in 1980 by Nestle group of companies. The nature of Maggi is Food Company. The products involve soups, sauces and instant noodles. The mission of Maggi is to become an inspiring growth partner that delivers creative, branded food and beverage solutions enabling operators to innovate, and delight consumers. Vision of Maggi is Nestle Norden’s aim, is to meet the various need of the consumer every day by marketing and selling food of a consistently hi gh quality. Three objectives of Maggi are good to know, which means factual information on nutrition content, good to remember, means that the tips for healthy lifestyle, cooking and diet, and good to talk, means consumer call to their consumer services teams or log on their website. The target customers of Maggi noodles are kids, youth and working women, but the biggest consumer is children. 2.0 The Marketing Mix Strategies 2.1 Product Strategy 2.1.1 Product Classification Maggi noodles is a consumer product that bought by final consumer for personal consumption. Nestle had positioned Maggi as a convenience food product. Consumers bought Maggi noodles frequently with lower price. There are many purchase locations for consumers to buy Maggi. For example is 7-eleven. 2.1.2 Product and Service Decisions Product Attribute Maggi noodles recognized the need of consumers with provide quality food and convenient at once. It is a â€Å"fast relief from hunger† product. Maggi noodles have settled at standard flavours such as curry, masala, tomato and chicken  and not much experimentation is required in the noodles market. Maggi noodles have launched many products like Maggi Vegetable Atta Noodles, Maggi Vegetable Multigrain Noodles. It added Maggi Dal Atta Noodles in its product portfolio targeting health conscious people. This was followed with the Rice Noodles. Maggi 2 Minute Noodles already associated with convenience and taste and is currently accepted as a valid filling snack between meals. Branding Maggi noodles are a brand of instant noodles manufactured by Nestle. The advantages of having branding to buyers are easier for them to identify. For sellers, branding provides legal protection for its company and help to segment market. After realizing its target group was young children and their mother, Maggi come up with tagline: â€Å"Mummy bhook lagi hai†, â€Å"Bus 2 minute†, â€Å"Fast to cook, good to eat† and â€Å"Health bhi taste bhi†. The brand of Maggi noodles is positioned as a health and convenience product. Packaging Nestle has developed a good package for Maggi noodles. They increase the thickness of the plastic sheets used in Maggi noodles packets to make the product more strength and allow easy and safe to open. To allow the packets to be stored easily, they provide a Zip-Seal facility along with the existing sealing. Labeling The labeling of Maggi noodles helps Maggi to promote the product through attractive graphics. The information labeled of Maggi noodles include logo, weight of each packages, ingredients of the product, expired date, cooking instructions, consumer services line, information of the manufacturer (address, telephone or fax number and others) and nutrition information of the product. Product Support Service Maggi introduced â€Å"money saver multi packs† in the form of 2-in-1 pack and 4-in-1 pack. There contain the service which let the consumers tried their products in order to get feedback of consumers of the products. They also give gifts to consumers who return on empty packets. 2.1.3 Major Brand Strategy Decision Brand Positioning Nestle tried to position Maggi noodles in the platform of convenience targeting the working women but the sales of Maggi was not picking up even though it had doing a lot of media advertising. After conducted a research, they realizes that children were the largest consumers of the product as children like the taste of Maggi noodles. So, they change their target from working women to children and their mother. They positioned the noodles as a ‘convenience product’ for children’s mother and a ‘fun product’ for children. Brand Name selection Nestle introduced the Maggi brand in India in 1982, with its launch of Maggi 2 Minute Noodles, an instant noodles product. In several countries, it also knows as â€Å"maggi mee†. The original company comes into existence in 1872 in Switzerland, when Julius Maggi took over his father’s mill. Maggi was the first to bring protein-rich legume meal to the market and followed by readymade soup based on legume meal in 1886. In 1863, Julius Maggi developed a formula to add taste to meal. Maggi had merged with Nestle family in 1947. Brand Sponsorship Maggi is under manufacturer’s brands that also called national brands which brand name owned by a manufacturer or other producer. Maggi brand name owned by a manufacturer, that is Nestle Company. Brand Development Nestle using the strategy of brand extension for attracting customers. They use the successful brand name to launch a new or modified product in a new category. Maggi has launched various products such as noodles, sauces, maggi pichko, soups healthy, maggi soup sanjivini, maggi bhuna masala and maggi magic cubes. Maggi extended their brands for attracting the families which are more health conscious. Nestle using brand extension to overcome the problem of declining the sale. 2.2 Pricing Strategy 2.2.1 Pricing Objectives Pricing strategy for the existing variants of Maggi noodles based on the  objective of â€Å"Maximizing Market Share†. These variants are competitively priced. As it is highly price sensitive, any price change initiates an instant price check reaction from the competitor. The effect of the downward revision in price can be offset by the increase in sales volume. Nestle tried to survive if they are plagued with intense competition. They tried to covers variable costs and some fixed costs in order to remain in the industry. Nestle believe that a higher sales volume will lead to lower unit’s costs and higher long run profit. For product quality, Maggi brand strive to be affordable luxuries products by high levels of perceived quality, tests and status with a price. The launch of Cup-O-Maggi is based on the objective of achieving â€Å"Product Quality Leadership†. Its segment is less-price sensitive so it will be premium priced to target the higher end customers. C reation of a premium brand gives the company an opportunity to provide a differential pricing and service offering to the customer thereby creating a key differentiator. 2.2.2 New Product Pricing Strategies Maggi is using market penetration in marketing Maggi noodles. Nestle introduce Maggi noodles to the market with low price in order to increase consumer incentives in the competitive market. For example, Nestle tend to charge almost the same price for the different flavor of Maggi 2 minute noodles when initially introduced it. Nestle hope to gain high sales volume which in turn would lower the costs. This strategy also makes the customers loyalty and attracts more new customers to Maggi noodles product as a result of low price. Maggi has successfully implied market penetration in the market as they have 80% market share in noodles market nowadays. 2.2.3 Product Mix Pricing Strategies Maggi set price steps between various items in a product line since there are a wide price differences among maggi stocks, soups, 2 minute noodles and ketchup. The mix and types of flavor of Maggi noodles sold will affect the average selling price of their products and have a substantial impact on their revenue and gross margin. For instance, Maggi 2 minute noodles and Cup-O-Maggi have differences of their selling prices. In addition, Maggi uses product bundle pricing when they are merge several products in the same  package such as five packages of Maggi noodles are packing together sell at once to the customer. 2.2.4 Price Adjustment Strategies Maggi adjusted price by using promotional pricing techniques. For example, Maggi offer Buy One Get One Free when the mega sales season. Furthermore, Nestle also imply segmented pricing. For the different location, the prices set of Maggi noodles is different. Maggi also set the price a bit different for their new flavor of Maggi noodles introduced. Psychological pricing also apply by Maggi noodles. Most of the price set by the retailer is â€Å"odd prices†. For example in Tesco, the price of a package Maggi noodles is RM3.89. It purposes to attract more customers to buy for it. 2.3 Distribution Strategy Maggi has a well established distribution network. Maggi has its own factory which means that it manufacture its own product in its factory. Maggi noodles will directly ship to Carry and Forward agencies (CFAs) that located in each state when the product is completely manufactured. Carry and Forward agencies means an organization that provides the facilities such as warehousing. Warehousing carried the meaning of holds goods for moderate to long periods in an attempt to balance supply and demand for producers and purchasers. After that, distributors will deal with wholesaler. Wholesaler is the one who takes title to the goods handles and then distributes these goods to retailers or business users, and sometime end consumers also. Maggi distributors will distribute the goods to wholesaler such as hypermarket, for example Tesco Extra. Maggi noodles will be shipped from Maggi warehouse to the wholesaler as per the order taken by the distributor sales men. Wholesaler will then distributes Maggi noodles to retailers or even direct to end consumers. A retailer owned and operated by someone other than the manufacturer of the products it sells. For example, Tesco Extra distributes Maggi noodles to the retailers such as supermarket and convenience stores. The examples for supermarket are Tesco, Giant and Carrefour, while the examples for convenience store are 7-eleven or mini market. An end consumer is the individual or business who uses products and services. End consumers will buy Maggi noodles from supermarket or convenience stores. 2.4 Promotional Strategy 2.4.1 Sales Promotion Sales promotion was used by Maggi noodles to attract customers and maintain the sales in off season. Dry sampling and wet sampling are some strategies we can often see in the super market. The promoters always distribute the Maggi noodles packet (dry sampling) and cooked Maggi (wet sampling) to the consumer. From Nestle webpage, the consumer can get the items that have promotion in the specified month. For example, customer can save RM0.30 for every purchase of Maggi 2 Minute Noodles Asam Laksa from 1st August 2011 to 31st August 2011. Besides that, a lot of contests were hold by Maggi noodles such as Win a Family Holiday with MAGGI 2 MINUTE NOODLES. The winner of this contest will have the chance travel to the Gold Coast. Moreover, Maggi noodles promote their product through a different way, which is attracting the children who is under 14 years old to become a member of Maggi Club. They distributed the club membership card to children and list of gifts has been provided in the fun programs. Some games and gifts (known as premium) are offered by Maggi Club such as Snap Safari Game, Disney Today Comic and Mask set. Children must send 5 wrappers as purchase proof in order to acquire these benefits. This has successfully attracted mothers who were being persuaded from their children to consume Maggi noodles because they would like to collect the gift. 2.4.2 Advertising For Maggi noodles, the advertisement can be widely spread to their potential buyers by the cheapest way. Hum Log, which is the first Soap Opera in Indian Television, was advertised the Maggi 2-Minute Noodle. This advertisement has an effective tag line which is â€Å"Bas do Minute† (only two minutes). This tag line was easy to remember and reinforce to the people who do not want to spend their time in kitchen. Maggi noodle has advertised their product based on different segment. For example, the new Dal-Atta noodles advertisement demonstrate a grandfather and father eating the noodles. Because of Dal-Atta noodles, which contain the Calcium and Protein components, they become a healthy family. For the product of â€Å"Mania†, the advertisement show the mom as a relax housewife. Besides that, Maggi noodles also advertise through  magazine and their respective webpage. In year 2003, Maggi introduced their product in various magazines to celebrate 20 years in India. Furth ermore, this brand has advertised their new atta noodles and rice noodles variants in some weekly magazines. For the Maggi webpage, they not only show the new product but also teach people how to use Maggi noodles to cook in various ways. 2.4.3 Public Relations Public relations also done by Maggi noodles through organize some innovative campaign. For illustration, the campaigns of â€Å"Remembering your good ol’ days with Maggi† and â€Å"MAIN AUR MERI MAGGI† campaign were hold by Maggi noodles to celebrate Maggi was completed in 25 years. Besides that, the campaign of â€Å"Me and Meri Maggi† was launched to celebrate the emotional relationship between Maggi and consumer. This campaign was given consumer an opportunity to speak out their unique experiences with Maggi and an overwhelming response has given by consumer. Apart of that, Maggi noodles also sponsor some primary school in India to organize the contest for student. The â€Å"Maggi Quiz Competition† which held at G.D Goenka Public School in year 2011 show cases the talents of student’s up to date knowledge in all fields. Moreover, Maggi is one of the sponsors of MasterChef. This show is a popular cooking reality programme which organized by Astro. 3.0 Market Opportunities In Malaysia, there has an increased affinity of Indians towards Chinese cuisine. It creates new market opportunity for Maggi to improve its taste further and capture larger market share. The creative nature of Malaysian food proprietors in Malaysia had made Maggi noodles evolved and now comes in several culinary forms. Among the most popular would be the Maggi Goreng (fried Maggi noodles) which adorns the table of mamak stalls across the country. The upward trend of convenience food consumption has also increase the potential consumer base of Maggi noodles. For example, the single working professionals and student population. The localization of Maggi noodles in Malaysia can boost its sales and earn more consumers purchases. Next, the market opportunity for Maggi noodle is their unexploited rural markets as so far they mainly targeted cities and developed areas. Maggi has  earned certain level of government appraisal and recognition for their product offering and operation. Besides, the government is currently encouraging the civil society and the private sector to help transform rural areas into a computer literate society. Thus, it is easier for Maggi to advertise and marketing their product into rural market. Maggi also being the market leader employs some of the most sophisticated technologies in their production unit to ensure they constantly meet up with the demand from customers. As technology is getting advanced, there has been introduction of new machineries helps Maggi come out with new product, product improvement and new marketing techniques which can fit to rural market. 4.0 Recommendations It is often to see Maggi noodles become one of the cuisines at the Indian restaurants. But, it is rare to see Maggi noodles used by Chinese restaurants. Therefore, we suggest that Maggi can do some research by adding some characteristic of Chinese cuisine inside the new product. Two characteristics of Chinese cuisine are the product must be distinctive color and aromatic flavor. Chinese food preparation has focus on the appearance. They believe that a pleased and harmonious color can increase in appetite. Another important element in Chinese food is aromatic flavor. Some aroma ingredient such as aniseed and cinnamon will cover the ingredient’s particular smells. Meanwhile, shallot, ginger, cooking wine and sesame oil are added to make the food fragrant in flavor. All of these aroma ingredients have their own function that will benefit our health. For example, aniseed can reducing our oiliness in the skin and improves the memory function. Therefore, Maggi noodles can try to cre ate new product in order to attract more Chinese and also other races. In order to promote Maggi noodles in the rural markets, Maggi can choose to give traditional form of advertising and marketing such as distributing pamphlets or advertising on radio. It helps to educate consumers about a never before used product in a more direct and engaging way. Maggi can also organize â€Å"Home-to-Home† campaigns and Van Campaigns. For instance, preparing Maggi noodles and serves to rural areas consumer in hot and cooked condition. Consumers will direct impacted by the campaign and feel special, so next time around, they will repeat purchase Maggi noodles for consuming. Besides,  Maggi can bring in new machines to produce more in lesser time as well as keeping its manufacturing quality precision at its best. Maggi should also continuously focuses its efforts to better understand the changing lifestyles and anticipates consumer needs in order to provide convenience, taste, nutrition, and wellness through Maggi noodles product. As the government is going to turn rural areas into technology society, Maggi can introduce the Internet and e-commerce to market their Maggi noodles in rural market. 5.0 Conclusion We had chosen Maggi noodles as our product. After doing this assignment, we know that Maggi are manufactured by Nestle Company. The brand of Maggi is positioned as a ‘convenience product’ for children’s mother and a ‘fun product’ for children with tagline ‘Fast to cook Good to eat’. Maggi has launched various products such as noodles, sauces, maggi pichko, soups healthy, maggi soup sanjivini, maggi bhuna masala and maggi magic cubes to extend its brand. The company tried to covers variable costs and some fixed costs in order to remain in the industry and make sure the customer will not move to competitor because Maggi has many substitute products. Maggi noodles introduced to market with a low price in order to increase consumer incentives in the competitive market. The company promoted Maggi noodles by using sales promotion, advertising and public relations. We can see the promoters distribute the Maggi noodles packet (dry sampling) and cooked Maggi (wet sampling) to consumers at the supermarket. Maggi noodles always selling at the convenient places which are the neighborhood places that can gather many consumers. It has been seen that a company need to do many things in order to come out a successful brand. It is not easy to make a brand successful. Before create a brand, company need to recognize the need satisfaction of consumers, target customers and set the mission to meet the need of consumers. Company need to develop marketing mix strategies (4Ps) after developed a product. The company also needs to find out the opportunities to improve their brand and overcome the threat. Marketers have to maintain the sales and earned the consumers loyalty.

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On the Chesapeake Colonists Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

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Is watchmen a good book for education - Essay Example Its setting is in the alternate United States history where these superheroes strongly emerge to assist the US win the Vietnam War during the 1940s and 1960s (Harvey, 1996, p. 66). The nuclear war is looming close by between the United States and the Soviet Union, with most of the costumed freelance vigilantes outlawed and the costumed superheroes are either serving the government or have retired. The story therefore mainly focuses on the protagonists’ struggles and personal development. The sudden murder of a superhero under the government’s sponsorship begins investigations which eventually pulls the protagonist from their retirement leading them into war to confront a discovered plot intended to start a nuclear war meant to destroy millions of innocent people. As we shall soon find out, the ‘watchmen’ is no doubt a book that should be used as an educational material because it covers many facets of the literally requirements. Although it was initially designed and written as a mere comic book to provide aesthetical satisfaction of its time, it doesn’t have many rivals of its nature to match. The entire plot, setting, characters, the theme, figurative language, and science-art fiction interrelations are just but a few features of this book that eminently presents themselves even to a layman reader as masterfully structured pieces. In addition, the more perceptions of different categories of personalities are well integrated in the book to give the reader a high degree of determining and comprehending the ones which are more comprehensible than others. This book therefore acts as an individual ethic meter. The ‘watchmen’ is very appropriate to use as a literally educational books it cuts across many boundaries of human life in general. For example, its composition and art aspect can, to some extent be equated to the classical or even oriental literally works. Not only does it enumerate the comic

RS DB 2 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

RS DB 2 - Research Paper Example Revenue for sales is always associated with expenses. The common expenses are cost of revenue or cost of goods sold, general and administrative expenses, non-recessing expenses, and other expenses. The above-mentioned expenses when added to the revenue we get gross profit or loss, and operating income or loss. This assignment will limit to Radio Shacks sales revenue. The activities mentioned above are operating activities. Operating activities in business are associated with the revenue and expenses or in other word cash inflows and outflows. Thus, operational activity in accounting is called cash flow. This assignment will limit to the study of Radio Shack’s cash flow from the operation in the fiscal 2010 year. Cash flow from operations may be calculated using direct or indirect method. This assignment will use the indirect method. Necessary data, in this purpose, will be acquired from company’s Income statement and Balance sheet (Yahoo; YCHARTS). Sales Revenue for yea r 2010 = 4,265,200,000 (Yahoo) Cash at the beginning of the year 2010 = 908,200,000 (YCHARTS a) Operating Cash Flow (OCF) calculation (Accounting Explained) Net income 190,700,000 Adjustment to the net income 38,600,000 Depreciation 99,200,000 Net payable 600,100,000 Deferred Tax 12,000,000 Net Receivable -377,500,000 OCF 563,100,000 Cash at the end 2010 = Cash at the beginning + OCF = 908,200,000 + 563,100,000 = 1,471,300,000 However, according to the company Cash flow (YCHARTS a) statement, cash at the end of 2010 was 569,400,000. This shows that company did not collect all revenue, which is also shown through the increase in receivable from 2009 to 2010 (YCHARTS b). The company made more sales than cash collections. Question 2 Sales revenue and Net income trend analysis Radio Shack 2008 2009 Growth / Decline 2010 Growth / Decline 2011    Sales 4,224,000,000 4,276,000,000 1.23% 4,266,000,000 -0.23% 4,378,000,000 2.63% Net income 189,400,000 205,000,000 8.24% 206,100,000 0.54% 72 ,200,000 -64.97% Cost of revenue 2,302,000,000 2,314,000,000 0.52% 2,352,000,000 1.64% 2,567,000,000 9.14% Gross profit 1,923,000,000 1,962,000,000 2.03% 1,914,000,000 -2.45% 1,811,000,000 -5.38% BestBuy Sales    45,020,000,000    49,690,000,000 10.37% 49,750,000,000 0.12% Net income    1,003,000,000    1,317,000,000 31.31% 1,277,000,000 -3.04% The above table shows Radio Shack’s Sales and Net income trend for years from 2008 to 2011. Revenue from sales during this period was more or less stable; though in 2009, it was increased by 1.23 % with respect to the previous year; in 2010 decreased by – 0.23 %, and in 2011 again increased by 2.63 %. Net income trend was quite erratic; in 2009, it increased by 8.24 % with respect to the previous year, then it dropped in 2010. In 2011 net income dropped by 65 % with respect to the previous year. The company Income Statement did not show any dramatic increase in operating expenses. However, it was observed that both in 20 10 and 2011 when net income dropped gross profit also dropped. Drop in net income in 2010 and 2011 should be attributed to decrease in gross profit. The decrease in gross profit is associated with the increase in cost of revenue, which is displayed in the above table. Study of net income of Radio Shack’s competitor Best Buy also shows a decrease in net income in 2011 with respect to 2011. We may conclude that year 2011 decrease in net income as a trend; however, Radio Shack’s net income drop in 2011 was much higher than its competitor Best

English Film and Literature Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

English Film and Literature Analysis - Essay Example Heroes too have been of varied kinds in the world of American art, ranging from the frontier hero of the Westerns to the hero of the Everyman variety. These two movies look at two such characters and the heroes have elements of different such types. The importance of the genre of the works and the time periods in which they are set shall also be a part of the discussion in this paper. The paper shall argue that these works have influenced the manner in which the American hero has been envisaged over the years and conceived of in other works of art. The character of Hawkeye is one who is able to maneuver through several situations that the settlers have to face. In a period that was marked by a great amount of political turbulence, he is able to navigate himself and others into situations of safety. He is able to also further the agenda of the side that he is on. One needs to remember that this was an era when America was still open to nations of the world and people like Hawkeye were necessary in order to consolidate the power that America had over the world. Such a hero is commonplace in American movies and books. In many movies of the Western genre, one finds that the hero moves to a place which is populated by a large number of Indians. The narratives of such westerns are almost always based on the extension of the American frontiers. Such an extension would then place the character in the mold of a hero as the character would be seen to be performing a service to his community and to the larger community of America. This is seen to also be a patriotic move. Apart from this, it also furthers the idea of the masculine hero who is able to subdue the forces that create problems in the lives of his community. The fact that such heroes are more often than not, men, goes a long way to prove this point. Even in the recently released movie Django Unchained, which seeks to reinvent the genre of the Western, the hero remained a man while the lead female character was a largely passive presence. The masculine hero is then seen as a symbol or crystallization of American manhood. One of the interesting features of the book is the fact that Hawkeye does not appear to be an intensely racist character. On one occasion, he actually says, There is reason in an Indian, though nature has made him with a red skin!’†¦. ‘I am no scholar, and I care not who knows it; but, judging from what I have seen, at deer chases and squirrel hunts, of the sparks below, I should think a rifle in the hands of their grandfathers was not so dangerous as a hickory bow and a good flint-head might be, if drawn with Indian judgment, and sent by an Indian eye. (Cooper 49) However, this sense of tolerance is often offset by the race pride and sense of superiority that he displays at various points in the novel. One such instance is given below. I am not a prejudiced man, nor one who vaunts himself on his natural privileges, though the worst enemy I have on earth, and he is an Iroquois, daren’t deny that I am genuine white. (Cooper 49) The hero of the Western too was in many cases white and held racist notions of white superiority. Such notions were then used in order to justify his actions that were meant for the progress of a society that was largely white. Many of these movies were also set in pre-Civil War scenes. The hero of Mr. Smith goes to Washington, on the other hand is a person who is closer to the model of Everyman. He is a part of the American

Black studies 1019--opinion paper--choosing two topics and describing Essay - 1

Black studies 1019--opinion paper--choosing two topics and describing their ideas and how they affected african americans in the - Essay Example The Sharing of Culture The exposure of one African ethnic group to the other had resulted to the sharing of cultures and traditions. As claimed by Michael Angelo Gomez, during the slavery period in America, the Africans coming from different cultural backgrounds had assembled themselves to form a single society of African Americans (88). It is contended that their cultural formation was not triggered by any form of racial discrimination but by the realization that they are different from the other people within the American society. What made them different is not just the color of their skin but their social status. So as to have a unified foundation for the expression of their common interest, the different ethnic groups decided to fuse their various traditions. It is in this sense that the Africans appreciated the advantages of creating a community. Nonetheless, it is worthy to emphasize that the fusion of the different beliefs and practices had not been easy for the different eth nic groups. Actually, the traditional people in Africa did not view the members of the other ethnic groups as belonging to their own (Freeman 25). They even had the propensity of seeing their ethnic group as more influential than the others. This suggests that during the process of cultural integration, the various African ethnic groups were struggling to make their beliefs and practices part of the new identity. Nevertheless, due to their slavery experience, these ethnic groups could have considered to be submissive to whatever way that could serve the best interest of all the Africans in America. The African American Music The formation of African-American music is one of the products of the cultural integration that the different ethnic groups had experienced and embraced during the slave era in America. After the abolition of slave trade in America, there had been many African-American singers and songwriters who became part of the American entertainment and music industry. As m embers of the African-American community, the African-American music artists are expected to express their cultural identity in their musical compositions and even in their everyday dealing. Their way of expressing the cultural identity of African-Americans has caught the public’s attention. The African-American music artists living in America have been subjected to a very controversial question, that is, whether they view themselves primarily as individuals of African descent who happened to be in the American soil or primarily as Americans who happened to be of African descent. A Discussion of the Distinction It is claimed that the new generation of African-Americans could consider themselves belonging to the second option. In a way, since they have been part of modern America, they have the tendency to behave in the American way. This connotes that for them, their American identity weighs more than their African ancestry. Their ancestral root has become a second or subsidi ary identity. Nonetheless, they still recognize the fact that they have a unique cultural origin. It is in this sense that they have the tendency to reshape and improvise a musical composition or simply â€Å"to blackenize† it, giving it an African-American touch (Maynard-Reid 71). Examples of African-American singers born during the post-slavery era are Michael Jackson and

The Sons Veto Essay Example for Free

The Sons Veto Essay The Son’s Veto is a short novel written by Thomas Hardy. The three protagonists in the story are Sophy, Sam and Randolph. Sophy is from a lower class background however marries a clergyman. Mr Twycott commits social suicide when he marries Sophy, so they move away from North Wessex to London where no one knows about Sophy’s past. Thomas Hardy generates sympathy for Sophy here because she has moved away from her home town and is separated from her family and friends. Also she moves away from her husband to be Sam. Whilst Mr Twycott is alive, Sophy is reasonally content with her lifestyle yet still isn’t quite adjusted to a ‘lady’ life. We see this when her son Randolph corrects her grammar. ‘Surely you know by this time’. When Randolph belittles his mother we feel sympathy for Sophy as this is an unnatural mother and son relationship. ‘His mother hastily adopted the correction, and did not resent his making it..’. Thomas Hardy makes Sophy seem very unconfident and timid towards her own flesh and blood, which makes us feel sympathy for her. Also, Sophy is mostly in a wheel chair due to her ankle injury whist in Wessex. She is unable to walk and on the occasions she does she finds it a struggle. As readers we sympathise with her here because not only is she trapped and out of place in London, she is also trapped in her own home because she cannot walk. Her son Randolph is her aid to getting around and without him she is stuck. Thomas Hardy makes us pity Sophy because she is very vulnerable to her son because he holds the power. Thomas Hardy generally makes us feel sympathy with Sophy because she did not marry her husband out of love, she married him out of respect. ‘Even if she had wished to get away from him she hardly dared refuse a personage’ When her husband dies, Sophy starts to reflect on her former life in the ‘native’ village in North Wessex. During the time period, women were not very well respected so Sophy cannot go to her own husband’s funeral. After a while of not sleeping and reminiscing of her life in Gaymead, it is when she is glancing out the window where she sees the former gardener of Gaymead, Sam. She realises that she misses the way she used to live but she is ‘trapped’ because of Randolph who is a ‘gentlemen.’ So far in the parts we have read, Thomas Hardy generates sympathy for Sophy Twycott by constantly reminding us of her former past and how it would be very hard to go back because of her son.

Causes and Solutions to the Obesity Epidemic

Causes and Solutions to the Obesity Epidemic Poor eating habits and the physical health of 21st century human beings has become the centre of worldwide discussions. It is far more complex than merely understanding and using the nutritional information available. A mixture of an individual’s financial position, geographical location and will power are to blame but it seems as if unethical scientific studies, uninformed decisions by members of government and the availability of false information are major contributing factors to the status quo. However, it is evident that healthy people are less of a burden on society than those who overeat and do not partake in regular exercise. Obesity is an epidemic defined as the abnormal or excessive fat accumulation of which millions of individuals around the world have fallen victim to. The disease is preventable but more than 65% of the world’s population live in areas where overweight and obesity kills more than underweight, 10% of the world’s adult population is clinically obese and 40 million children under the age of 5 are classified as being overweight. The statistics are horrifying but the effects are evident particularly in the United States of America where its affects are seen in every state. The obesity statistics in South Africa are no better. Currently 29% of men and 56% of women are classified as being overweight or obese and of those individuals 71% have never tried to cut down and 78% think that they are perfectly healthy. The blame seems to be on Westernisation and Urbanisation as well as the fact that we are among the highest consumers of alcohol in the World. Obesity has doubled since 1980 and it is currently the 5th leading cause of death. The fix is near impossible especially with the current nonchalant attitude with regard to the addressing of the disease. The lack of urgency towards addressing the problem is evident worldwide, particularly in the United Arab Emirates where type-2 diabetes is now seen in children as young as the age of 10. It appears that in affluent countries such as the UAE-where people are spoiled by higher incomes-that overeating rather than the sedentary lifestyle is to blame for the poor health statistics. The rapidity of the problem took hold half a century back where their lifestyle changed as a result of population growth and urbanisation. The UAE staple diet now consists mainly of rice, bread and sweet fruits and the sudden explosion of delivery services and restaurants has compiled the problem. According to Dr Kazem Behbehani, â€Å"We need to invest heavily in nutrition,† and so the UAE draft strategy was implemented. The aim is to educate the public with regard to health and nutrition and also target the manufacturing sector where it will emphasise ethical marketing and labelling strategies. The epidemic can be reduced through a combined effort by the individual, society and the food industry. The individual has the responsibility to limit energy intake and partake in regular physical activity. Society must show its sustained political commitment and make pursuing a life of health, affordable and easily accessible. The biggest responsibility lies with the food industry as they are the ones that should provide healthy and nutritious choices and ensure responsible marketing. Another factor to consider with regard to the poor health of individuals around the world is the fast food industry. According to the Huffington post about 50% of all meals consumed daily are away from home and one in five breakfasts is eaten from McDonalds. The calorie intake has surged since 1980 from 3200 calories per day to a whopping 3900 and can be seen by looking at figure 14 that shows the changes of calorie intake over the past 40 years. The fact that there are over half a million fast food restaurants staking their claim around the world is a concern as it shows the demand for them outweighs the supply. McDonalds alone feeds 68 million people per day and is the largest toy distributer in the world which explains why children develop such resilient reliance and trust with McDonalds at a very young age. Calorie intake varies according to gender, age and height. There are, however, calorie intake guidelines for adults. The recommended calorie intake per day for sedentary males and females is 2,000 to 2,600 and 1,600 to 2,000 respectively. If an individual is active these amounts increase, for males it is 2,400 to 3,000 and for females it is 2,000 to 2,400 calories per day. What many people do not realise is how many calories are in the food they consume particularly in fast food. If we compare the amount of calories in a fast food meal (regular burger, fries and a milkshake) from the three major fast food chains around the world, namely KFC, Burger King and McDonalds one will notice that an individual would have almost expended their daily calorie intake in one meal. †¢McDonalds (Big Mac, Regular Fries and a Chocolate Milkshake) = 1780 †¢KFC (Burger, Regular Fries and a Crusher)= 1125 †¢Burger King (Whopper, Regular fries and a Chocolate Milkshake)= 1750 As a result of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act all restaurant chains with 20 or more locations in the United States are now required to post the calorie contents of their products on menus or boards. The calorie information is relatively easy to find but whether or not people use them is debatable but a study conducted by NYU Langone confirms that the posting of nutritional information at fast food chains does not influence an individual’s choice in product consumption. As a result it has no effect on the amount of calories consumed, â€Å"10 percent of the respondents in our study said that calorie labels at fast-food chains resulted in them choosing fewer calories.† A comprehensive study conducted in Boston and Philadelphia by Bryan Bollinger, Phillip Leslie, Alan Sorensen and their team found that, â€Å"Mandatory calorie posting does inà ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡uence consumer behaviour at Starbucks, causing average calories per transaction to decrease by 6%.† But the effect is insignificant when you look at figure 12.4 where calorie posting before and after produced practically identical graphs of calorie consumption. They also note that, â€Å"Calorie posting did not cause any statistically significant change in Starbucks revenue overall.† If calorie posting does not affect a company’s overall revenue one wonders why every fast food chain does not partake in global calorie posting. Whether or not the effects on weight loss are statistically significant or not calorie posting should become the norm. Society needs to be constantly exposed to calorie posting if the effects on an individual’s health are to be meaningful. Bryan Bollinger makes an interesting comment. It seems only reasonable to assume that the providing of nutrition information to consumers would assist them in purchasing healthier products. The idea is that consumers would be shocked to realise how many calories are in the beverage and/or food that they consume. However, it appears that consumers at chain stores are more concerned about convenience, price and taste, rather than the nutrition information. And those who do care about nutrition information and calories either do not go to fast food chains in the first place and/or are already well-informed because the information is easily accessible on company websites. If nutritional information were going to make a difference it would appear at chain stores, however, if they assume that the calorie consumption for all chain stores was reduced by 6% then, â€Å"It would imply a decrease in total calorie consumption on the order of 1.5%† This amounts to a mere 30 calories and if it was going to have any meaningful effect on weight loss it would have to be between 500-1000 calories per day. The paper suggests that mandatory calorie posting is only an acceptable policy if the benefits outweigh the costs. If anything they hope that calorie posting will encourage companies to offer more low-calorie items and that the consumer’s exposure to this information will make them more aware of the nutritional value of the foods they eat. They conclude that, â€Å"Our back-of-the-envelope calculation suggests that average reductions resulting from calorie posting in chain restaurants will not by themselves have a major impact on obesity.† The study does have its shortfalls and the effects of calorie posting may have been understated as they acknowledge in the paper: 1.The study assumed that the calorie intake of every individual was 2000 calories per day. They comment that it may be higher and this would mean that the reduction of calories per day could be much higher. 2.The study was only taken from Starbucks and this could understate the impact of nutrition information at other chain stores. In their study they found that consumers were more sensitive to calories ingested from food and not beverages which means that the effects of nutrition posting could be higher at other chain stores. 3.The impact of nutrition posting could be much higher chain stores promoted tasty, low-priced, low-calorie products. The single most significant factor on the state of an individual’s health and eating habit is their diet. A diet is a concept whereby an individual eats food in a regulated fashion with the aim to either maintain, increase or decrease their current weight. It is often used in combination with exercise but studies by the APA journal (among others) have found that the majority of individuals regain all weight irrespective whether or not they maintain diet and exercise. There are a variety of diets that either restrict calorie intake or a particular macronutrient but meta-analysis of randomised controls found no difference in weight loss. It appears that as long as calories are reduced weight will be lost but it is also evident that the restriction of certain macronutrients such as carbohydrates results in fast weight loss over a shorter period of time. Diets appear to arise as a result of an individual’s own miraculous weight loss and William Banting is no exception. In his Letter on Corpulence that he wrote in 1863 he describes his low-calorie and low-carb diet. Banting was morbidly obese and he blamed it on his love for farinaceous foods such as, â€Å"Bread, milk, butter, sugar and potatoes [†¦] these, said my excellent advisor, contain starch and saccharine matter, tending to create fat.† Many individuals-like Banting and others-do not realise that their daily eating habits have a detrimental effect on their health. Generally poor eating habits result in a poor state of heath. †¢Drinking alcohol: Increases ones insulin resistance which results in the storage of excess carbohydrates in the form of fat and hinders its use as fuel. †¢Compulsive snacking and food binging: Eating large amounts of food (often driven by emotions) results in eating beyond the point of being full. †¢Skipping breakfast: It is by far the most important meal of the day and failing to eat at this time results in an energy drain, disruption of metabolism, reduction in the amount of carbohydrates burned and increases likelihood of snacking. †¢Eating heavy meals before bed: Your body fails to burn and digest the carbohydrates as fuel and as a result the body stores it as fat. Dieting is not as simple as it is made out to be as many individuals have realised. However, Tim Noakes believes that the current poor health of individuals around the world is the result of an unethical study conducted by Ancel Keys that has resulted in decades of individuals failing to lose weight. The ‘Seven-Countries Study’ conducted by Keys is considered a case of manipulated bias. The study was published in 1953 by Keys who was already a well-respected American biochemist. In the publication he drew a comparison to the cholesterol levels in individuals and the amount of fat that one consumed. Despite having enough statistics from 22 countries he only selected 7 of them that supported his theory. The countries that were omitted did not support his hypothesis such as Holland and Norway whose diets comprised of large amounts of fat but who had some of the lowest cases of heart disease. Conversely there were cases where fat consumption was low but heart disease was high such as in Chile. There were many flaws in Keys work: 1.The data came from 7 of the 22 countries that suited his theory. 2.He failed to use randomised controlled clinical trials and only ever reported observational studies. As a result he could not prove his theory unequivocally. 3.He never considered other variables that could explain the relationship explored in his theory such as the growth in cigarette consumption. 4.He was not a clinician and had never treated a patient that suffered from the disease. Political events such as the desperate need to bring down the food price and increase the wealth of US farmers allowed for the global exploitation of Keys false theory. Senator George McGovern wanted to restrict the intake of saturate fats and eggs by implementing the United States Dietary Goals for Americans (USDGA). The guidelines for the USDGA were compiled by Nick Mottern who had no formal training in nutrition science and now the American diet was based on 8-12 servings of grains and cereals a day so that they could successfully implement industrial scale production of corn and soy. US government agencies such as the National Institute of Health used research budget to prove that people that follow the guidelines will become immune to diabetes, heart disease and obesity. They spent over $700 million promoting the Food Pyramid but could not prove that a dietary change would produce significant health benefits. Figure 2 shows that the sudden increase of obesity since the 1980s is as a result of the USDGA. The stimulatory effect of carbohydrates on hunger results in the increase in calorie consumption and figure 5 shows that the increased consumption of calories from carbohydrates matches exactly the increasing rates of obesity from the beginning of the 1980s. What many people do not know is that out of all the macronutrients (fat, protein and carbohydrates) available the one that our body can do without are carbohydrates. Humans have the ability to obtain their energy requirements from proteins and fats-a process called gluconeogenesis-and there are no scientific studies that show that avoiding carbohydrates have short or long term effects on humans. There are, however, studies that support the Low-Carb, High-Fat diet (LCHF) promoted by Noakes and his team as a more suitable means of weight loss as opposed to other diets. A study conducted by the New England Journal of Medicine in 2003 found statistically no difference over a period of 12 months but low-carb diets are a more effective means of weight loss over a shorter period of time when compared to low-fat diets. History shows that ancient humans such as the Egyptians suffered from severe tooth decay, bone fractures, high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity. These are symptoms similar to those that we now see in many individuals today. It is believed that the Egyptians diet, like ours, comprised mainly of refined carbohydrates. As Michael Eades says in his book Protein Power if such is the ultimately health diet, â€Å"Rich in all foods believed to promote health and almost devoid of saturated fat and cholesterol [†¦] then ancient Egyptians should have lived forever.† There are many shortcomings to the LCHF diet promoted by Professor Tim Noakes as explained by Christopher Gardner in a presentation presented at the Stanford University. One cannot confirm if it is the reduction of carbohydrates or the increase of fat in an individual’s diet that is behind the miraculous weight loss. The mere fact that you are restricting your carbohydrate intake to extremely low levels means that you immediately reduce calorie intake and despite having the ability to eat copious amounts of fat one cannot eat a tub of butter without bread to put it on. The result of the LCHF diet means your stomach shrinks and you have the ability to go without feeling hungry for 6-12 hours. There is also the important issue of fat loss versus muscle loss. Weight loss typically involves loss of fat, water and muscle. The aim of weight loss is to reduce the percentage of body fat. Muscle tissue, however, is denser than fat and a mere 10% reduction can have a dramatic effect on the shape of the body. The fact that muscle loss occurs is based on our Basic Metabolic Rate (BMR). This is the amount of calories the body requires when at rest and is influenced by the weight and muscle mass of an individual. More muscle means more calories without any ‘weight’ gain. In order to lose fat one must have a daily caloric intake that is greater than or equal to the BMR. Muscle and fat loss occurs when the daily caloric intake is less than or equal to the BMR. Maintaining muscle whilst losing fat is difficult but muscle loss can be restricted by regular lifting of weights and sufficient protein intake. There are many other diets such as the famous Atkins diet but a more recent diet based on the idea that no two humans are the same and that means one should eat according to their genetic make-up. The diet is as a result of Dr Peter D’Adamo’s work that certain foods are beneficial to certain blood types where others are harmful. It is evident that there is just far too much information out there surrounding proper dieting and nutrition. Individuals are bombarded with information that could possibly be false and based on no scientific studies but even those that are could not work for some individuals. It comes down to will power. If one partakes in regular exercise, follows an eating plan that contains sufficient nutrients and stays committed then I believe that anyone has the ability to live a healthy lifestyle. Finally the effect of obesity on the modern world is a financial one. It costs the United States government $190 billion a year in treatments alone and it is expected to rise to $344 billion by 2018. This means that the obesity-related treatments make up 10% of the annual medical spending. On average obese people spend 42 percent more on healthcare costs than healthy-weight people and obesity-related job absenteeism costs $4.3 billion annually. In closing poor eating habits and the physical health of human beings is only partly dependent on the availability and the understanding of nutritional information as the issue is far more complex. Individuals are bombarded with information (correct or not) and are far more concerned with price and taste rather than their well-being. Simplistically, the more educated we are in nutritional information the more informed we can be as individuals to take responsibility for our own health. It is however clear that healthy people are less of a burden on society.

Islam:The role and function of an Imam in a Sunni Mosque Essay

The role and function of an Imam in a Sunni Mosque The word Imam is an Arabic word which means 'Upfront'. As with many ancient words relating with faith the word carries a great deal of meaning and, depending of usage in text as well as speech, can take on numerous different meanings. In Sunni Islam the term Imam is used principally as a title and has minimal importance in theology. The congregational prayer performed in Mosque is lead by the Imam who stands in front of the lines of worship leading them in recital of prayer. The meaning of the word Imam is related to this role. In the standard interpretation being Imam is not a profession nor is it a qualification. The Imam is only Imam as long as he is leading prayer. He is not ordained as a holy man and should treated like any other member of the Muslim community. There are no priests or monks in Islam, all Muslims are regarded as equal. Any respected Muslim who is normally well-trained in leading prayer, As Salat, can be an imam. In general, it is the person with the most knowledge of Islam, pious, has the ability to recite the Qur?an properly and is the most respected and learned person in the assembly who is offered the honour of being Imam. Some Imams are specially trained at Islamic colleges called Dar-al-uloom, where students follow a seven year course in Arabic and Islamic Studies. Often the imam will have an advanced education, and will be very knowledgeable about Sharia , the Islamic law set down in the Qur?an and further writings. This helps the imam who works in a pastoral capacity to counsel members of the mosque. The congregation, in mosque prayer, must follow... ...mam is only human and no different than any other member of the congregation. Many people are misinterpreted about the role and function of the Imam, they believe that his job is primarily to carry out the task of leading the congregation to prayer which is a very significant and important task yet the Imam does much more The Imam is often relied on by the community for advice and guidance when needed. However of course the Imam doesn?t have all of the answers which is why he often refers to The Qur?an, The Hadith or The Sunnah. An Imam is not just a village hafiz , they have to deal with immigration and visa problems, marriage problems, all sorts of counselling and reconciliation, visiting of hospitals and prisons, education , organise social programmes, dawah programmes and much more. He is thought of as a pillar of the community Islam:The role and function of an Imam in a Sunni Mosque Essay The role and function of an Imam in a Sunni Mosque The word Imam is an Arabic word which means 'Upfront'. As with many ancient words relating with faith the word carries a great deal of meaning and, depending of usage in text as well as speech, can take on numerous different meanings. In Sunni Islam the term Imam is used principally as a title and has minimal importance in theology. The congregational prayer performed in Mosque is lead by the Imam who stands in front of the lines of worship leading them in recital of prayer. The meaning of the word Imam is related to this role. In the standard interpretation being Imam is not a profession nor is it a qualification. The Imam is only Imam as long as he is leading prayer. He is not ordained as a holy man and should treated like any other member of the Muslim community. There are no priests or monks in Islam, all Muslims are regarded as equal. Any respected Muslim who is normally well-trained in leading prayer, As Salat, can be an imam. In general, it is the person with the most knowledge of Islam, pious, has the ability to recite the Qur?an properly and is the most respected and learned person in the assembly who is offered the honour of being Imam. Some Imams are specially trained at Islamic colleges called Dar-al-uloom, where students follow a seven year course in Arabic and Islamic Studies. Often the imam will have an advanced education, and will be very knowledgeable about Sharia , the Islamic law set down in the Qur?an and further writings. This helps the imam who works in a pastoral capacity to counsel members of the mosque. The congregation, in mosque prayer, must follow... ...mam is only human and no different than any other member of the congregation. Many people are misinterpreted about the role and function of the Imam, they believe that his job is primarily to carry out the task of leading the congregation to prayer which is a very significant and important task yet the Imam does much more The Imam is often relied on by the community for advice and guidance when needed. However of course the Imam doesn?t have all of the answers which is why he often refers to The Qur?an, The Hadith or The Sunnah. An Imam is not just a village hafiz , they have to deal with immigration and visa problems, marriage problems, all sorts of counselling and reconciliation, visiting of hospitals and prisons, education , organise social programmes, dawah programmes and much more. He is thought of as a pillar of the community

Heart Of Darkness :: essays research papers fc

The Horror Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad is a novel where the main character Marlow is telling a story of a trip to the Congo. This novel is said to possibly be an autobiography of Conrad’s life at sea. This is said because Conrad was a seaman for a many years and went into Africa many times. The story is so powerful that even after 100 years, we still struggle with its meaning. This story has been retold by Francis Ford Coppola in the film Apocalypse Now. Chinua Achebe has recently explored Conrad’s ideas on imperialism. Achebe believed Conrad’s book presented a racist view of the people of Africa and Achebe in his own book, Things Fall Apart, presented imperialism through the eyes of the Africans. The story of Heart of Darkness is being told to four men on the deck of the Nellie. The story being told is about one of Marlow’s expeditions to the Congo in search of an Ivory hunter named Kurtz. When Marlow found Kurtz in the Congo, Kurtz had "gone native" Marlow found, "a head that seemed to sleep at the top of that pole," outside of Kurtz’s house and Kurtz had been hunting with tribes in the area (Conrad, 73). When Marlow arrived Kurtz, was ill and dying. Kurtz cried out the words "The horror! The horror!" right before he died (Conrad, 85). These words cried out by Kurtz as he died created the most important passages in Heart of Darkness. The way this one passage is interpreted determines how the book is interpreted. One interpretation is that the "horror" is death and Kurtz is realizing he is dying. Kurtz is horrified at the thought of dying and is crying out in pain of the realization. Kurtz may be afraid to die in the heart of darkness. Kurtz may be afraid to die knowing that he will never see his intended again and he may feel guilty for leaving his intended for his savage life. This interpretation shows a book about lost love and guilt for finding a new life. This interpretation is one of the less complex and uninteresting interpretations. Now here is a more interesting and complex interpretation. Some view Heart of Darkness as a racist book. This interpretation comes from the view that the "horror" Kurtz is identifying is his being brought "down" to the African ways. This interpretation sees the African ways as uncivilized and horrid to Kurtz when he realizes he was at their level.

A Comparison of the Masks In Cold Blood, Streetcar Named Desire, and Fe

Peeking Behind the Masks In Cold Blood, Streetcar Named Desire, and Fences  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚        Ã‚   In life, we all attempt to project some kind of personality to others. We have a mask we wear in different situations, but when times get tough, we eventually discard our masks and become our true selves. We don't live behind our masks until the tragic end, like the characters of In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, and Fences by August Wilson. The three characters, Perry Smith, Blanche DuBois, and Troy Maxson wore masks to their bitter endings, always trying to fool everyone else. When times got tough, they had to face themselves, and they could not stand the sight.    The characters of Blanche DuBois (A Streetcar Named Desire by Williams), Troy Maxson (Fences by Wilson) and Perry Smith (In Cold Blood by Capote), all had an image they hoped to project. They wanted everyone else to see them in a certain way. Each character had their own delusions about whom they were and what they wanted to project to others. The three hide behind masks in an attempt to be confident and faultless.    For example, in the case of Blanche DuBois we are introduced to a woman who portrays herself as a southern belle, a woman who is supposed to be genteel. It doesn't take long before the audience can recognize DuBois for what she really is. However, she never gives in, or admits to what the audience can see in her. DuBois is drawn to a life of illusion. She tells people she is a schoolteacher on leave, when she has actually lost her job for becoming involved in an affair with a much younger man (Harris 444). Laurie Lanzen Harris states,    She presents herself as an innocent, virginal young woman .... ...84.   Nance, William L. "The Worlds of Truman Capote." Contemporary Literary Criticism 13 (1970): 137-138.   Shafer, Yvonne. "Breaking Barriers: August Wilson," in Staging Difference: Cultural Pluralism in American Theatre and Drama. Contemporary Literary Criticism 118 (1999): 405-406.   Shannon, Sandra G. "The Good Christian's Come and Gone: The Shifting Role of Christianity in August Wilson Plays," in MELUS. Contemporary Literary Criticism 118 (1999): 382-384.   Vogel, Dan. "The Mask of Oedipus Tyranos," in The Three Masks of American Tragedy. Contemporary Literary Criticism 5 (1976): 504-505.    Works Consulted Capote, Truman. In Cold Blood. New York: The New American Library, 1940. Williams, Tennessee. A Streetcar Named Desire. New York: New Directories, 1947. Wilson, August. Fences. New York: Plume, 1985.   

Can we trust our emotions in the pursuit of knowledge Essay

I feel that knowledge is learning or feeling something that you didn’t know before. The pursuit of knowledge comes through sheer experience. Knowledge surpasses formal schooling. Schooling is educational but neither textbook nor teacher can allow one to experience knowledge that is experienced when on a journey, a journey to explore new things. With emotion on will delve deep and learn more than ever opening up avenues never seen before. That is the pursuit of knowledge. With emotions aiding the pursuit of knowledge one will learn a broader spectrum of things. Using emotions in history and the arts is a trustworthy action. In history one will see that emotions are entwined in every story because that is what history is, a compilation of stories from different sources and point of views. Who’s to say what the truth in history is? Who is the judge on whether a historical account is true or not? No one is the judge. This is what makes the pursuit of knowledge in history a purely emotional experience. It is hard to really know what is true because in different cultures and regions of the world history is told from different angles. History that one learns in school is not told from different angles. It is told from an angle that portrays a certain attitude from the compiler of historical facts. Depending on what side you are on in history reflects the publicity of certain events. In schools certain topics are talked about more often, such as victories. Although the events in history may be emotional the pursuit of this knowledge is not emotional. It is only information; therefore, emotions should not be trusted when dealing with this type. Familial history is different for every person because everyone has backgrounds that are of many origins. When a person learns about their history it is many times oral history that has been told for generations. Oral history is bound to change dramatically because as the story is told, different variations and exaggerations are added. When one person tells a story one portion of the story may be enhanced and talked about more, but that parts that aren’t told as much may be the truth and most important parts of the story. Familial history is emotional. This history encompasses struggles and successes. Each thing that happens in a family’s history holds an emotional impact on the person or people that witnessed these things. Many times if the past is hard to talk about, due to heavy emotional impact, the story is changed or not reported. Tying emotions to pursuit of knowledge in history is unpreventable because history is an emotional subject. When a person sees art many emotions arise that causes wonderment. The journey to understanding what art is conveying is what brings forth emotion that lead one to understanding. African drumming and dancing is something that I grew up doing and listening to. In the beginning it was something that I did and never wondered about. After my retirement from drumming and dancing I saw a performance and it set me on a roller coaster of thoughts. Through the gyrations and deep thuds moving in synchronization I experienced something I never felt while playing all of those years. Through the drumming I felt the rhythm of my own heart and through the movements life was breathed into the auditorium. The swift and acrobatic movement represented structure and valor. The drums often turned into a rough chant that spoke belligerent tones and softened, as the movements became more fluid. The drums spoke and the movements of the dancer’s bodies told a story. Through emotions, art comes alive and new knowledge was gained from that single experiences. Because there is not a wrong answer in art it is often easier to trust emotions. Art is emotional. Emotional is what humans are; this makes us all artist. Because trusting emotions in art is simple one can challenge their mind and try to understand what is behind the art form. Through paintings and mixed media different thoughts could be conveyed according to what emotions it causes a person to have. The artist could have intended for it to convey one emotion when according to past experiences of the viewer it conveys a different tone. In the language arts†¦ Although one can trust emotions in the pursuit of knowledge one mustn’t trust emotion to validate knowledge. People have their own truths. Truth changes, but knowledge doesn’t. Truth changes because of a different perception that each person has. Truth is what we all believe to be valid. Knowledge is different in every person. The pursuit of knowledge is a journey. When the destination is met one can’t trust emotions to thread through the truths and falsifications, but trusting your emotions on the journey is definitely possible and makes the expedition unique to the traveler.

Jim Casy as a Jesus Christ Figure Essay

In John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck uses several characters and situations to symbol something greater. The character, Jim Casy, is portrayed as an allegorical figure that represents Jesus Christ. Casy’s ideals and beliefs are very similar to those of Jesus Christ. Jim Casy is used to represent Jesus Christ, and to give the people going through a hard time a glimpse of hope and strength. Steinbeck portrays Jim Casy as Jesus Christ. The first notable comparison between them would be their initials. Both Jesus Christ and Jim Casy have the same initials. They also both have a strong love for humanity and saw the good in people. Jim Casy let people around him know that it shouldn’t be God that they should lean on, but on each other. In the novel, he says, â€Å"It’s love. I love people so much I’m fit to bust, sometimes. † (23) This showed that Casy wanted people to lean rely on each other. He believed that people struggling together was by far better than one person struggling alone. Both Jesus Christ and Jim Casy go to the wilderness to get their thoughts and beliefs together. Casy’s main goal was to find the meaning of â€Å"holy†. Casy tells the Joad family, â€Å"An’ I went into the wilderness like Him, without no campin’ stuff. † (81) While in the wilderness, Jim Casy realizes that holy is when mankind is united as one. He believed that every person was just one piece of a universal soul and that people could only be holy if they were united. Both Jesus Christ and Jim Casy also sacrificed themselves to protect others. Tom Joad, who already committed the crime of breaking his parole and leaving Oklahoma, knocked out a deputy. He was then instantly put in the danger of going back to prison. Jim Casy selflessly offers to take the blame and go to jail instead of Tom so that Tom would be able to lead the family. Lastly, both Jesus Christ’s and Jim Casy’s beliefs are spread after their deaths. When Jim Casy is brutally murdered, Tom Joad vows to spread Casy’s beliefs onto more people. Jesus Christ and Jim Casy share many similarities, a few being in their names, their love for humanity, their wilderness experiences, and their sacrifices. Steinbeck portrays Jim Casy as Jesus Christ in order to show that people working together will give them hope and strength. Steinbeck sends the message that people must always look towards a brighter future and stick together. He says, â€Å"But when they’re all workin’ together, not one fella for another fella, but one fella kind of harnessed to the hole shebang-that’s holy. † (81) Although the Okies were being driven off their land, Casy worked hard to get the people to work together. One of the many ways Casy reaches out to people is by taking the blame and going to jail instead of Tom. By doing so, Tom was able to carry on with his journey and guide his family as well. This gave people the incentive to start working together and relying on each other. Casy desperately wanted to give his people some hope and spirit that would allow them to look towards a brighter future. Casy says, â€Å"I gotta see them folks that’s gone out on the road. I got a feelin’ I got to see them. They gonna need help no preacher can give ‘em. † (52) Casy knew that his purpose in life was to help those people in need. Therefore, he took every opportunity he could to help. He organized a group of migrants to picket outside a peach picking camp. By working together, the migrants managed to keep reasonable wages for their work. Even though he knew the risks of going to jail if there was ever a leader, he still did not stop fighting for his people. Jim Casy fought for his people till death. His message, however, remained alive and touched the hearts of many of the Okies. Before Tom leaves his mother, he says, â€Å"But I know now a fella ain’t no good alone. † (418) This showed that Casy was successful in spreading his message. He was able to make Tom realize the importance of a community during desperate times. Though Tom was just one person, he was sure that his people would soon get his message. Steinbeck portrays Jim Casy as Jesus Christ in order to emphasize the importance of unity in a community and also to give people enough hope and strength to allow them to carry on. Jim Casy is a symbol of Jesus Christ. He is used to give his fellow people hope and strength by working together. He has several similarities with Jesus Christ in his life and even in his death. His beliefs and ideas provide hope and strength for those in need. Steinbeck used Jim Casy to give the Okies some spirit to carry on and look forward to a brighter future.

Dakota Office Products Case Essay

1 Dakota current allocates warehousing, distribution and order entry cost equally to each customer. DOP’s pricing system is generally independent of the specific level of service provided for customers. They just chose a single cost drive. However, it’s not believable and proper to use this simple method to analyze costs when costs are more complex. So we need to use activity-based cost system to chose different cost drives and allocate costs based on the activity. 2 We identify four different activities for all costs, order handling cost, ship carton cost or normal commercial shipment cost, desktop delivery cost, and order processing cost. As we noticed, the distribution center team reported 90% of their workers proceed carton in and out of facility. So, the total cost for order handling is $4,160,000, which is the sum of 90% of warehouse personnel expense and warehouse expenses (excluding personnel). This cost only depends on the number of cartons moved in and out of storage. So the total handling cost need to be allocated by the number of cartons processed in year 2000, which is 80,000 cartons. Then we get the overhead rate for handling cost that is $52.00 per carton. We only have the freight cost that is associated with normal shipment. We divide total cost $450,000 by the number of carton shipped only through normal shipment, which is 750,000 cartons. Then, we get the overhead rate for ship carton, which is $6.00 per carton. We also have desktop deliver option for customer. The total cost for 2000 delivers during 2012 is the sum of 10% of warehouse personnel expense and delivery truck expenses, which is $440,000. The overhead rate for desktop deliver is $220 per deliver. As order processing cost, we use weight average method, based on the hour used to divide this cost into three part, manual order limitation, line times manual order and EDI checks. We calculate total cost for manual order limitation $160,000 and it had 16,000 orders. So the overhead rate for manual order limitation is $10 per order. Total cost for line items is $600,000 and it had total 150,000 lines. The overhead rate for line item is $4 per line item. Total cost for EDI checks is 400,000 and it had 8,000 checks. The overhead rate for EDI check is $ 50 per order. 3 According to the Exhibit 3, we find the number of each activity provided to customers A and B during year 2000. We use these number multiplies each overhead rate to get overhead costs for each activity. For customer A, we have gross margin $18,000 and other costs including, order handing cost $10,400, ship carton cost $1,200, manual order cost $60, line items $240, and EDI orders cost $300. Customer A also has interest expense based on his average accounts receivable within 30 days, which is $9,000 and annual interest rate is 10%. Therefore, the interest expense for customer A is $75. We use gross margin $18,000 subtracts total other cost including interest expense $12,275 to get profit for customer A, which is $5,725. We use the same method to get gross margin for customer B is $19,000 and total other cost including interest expense is $19,020. So customer B loses $20. 4 Customer A use normal shipment and most of orders are EDI orders. These two could save more spend and is more profitable for the company. However, customer B have 25 desktop deliveries. This cost is about 6.47% of cost of items purchased. Also, customer B uses traditional manual order and manual line items order that cost more. Additionally, interest expense for customer B is also very higher because of his payments always after 90 days with a higher payment amount. Total other cost for customer B is 1.55 times of customer A. Therefore, customer A is more profitable and customer B loses $20. 5 and 6 The only limitation for customer A is manual order and line items. We suggest customer A use EDI orders instead of these two. It could save cost and make more profit. For customer B, the cost for desktop deliveries is very high and customer B use traditional manual order entry without EDI. It costs a lot for customer B. We recommend customer B decrease the desktop deliveries or increase the price for desktop deliveries to cover the cost. We also suggest customer B switch traditional manual order entry and line items to EDI orders. This technology would help save cost and be more profitable for custer A and B. 7 Under activity-based costing, we allocate all costs into different  activity. So, we could easily see the cost for each activity related to our cost of items purchased. We can figure out which activity is more costing and take control this cost to increase our profit. 8 If a major customer switches from placing all its orders manually to placing all its orders over the internet site, we will spend more workers’ hour on EDI checks. We use weight-average method to allocate order entry expenses into three activities, manual order, line items, and EDI checks. So, the expenses for manual order and line items could be decrease and expenses for EDI checks increases. We need to recalculate the overhead rate for both three activities. Additionally, the cost for EDI checks is more cheaper than the other two. So, if a major customer places all order over internet site, it would save cost and make more profit for company.

Importance of Technology in Classroom Essay

Technology is either a boon or bane, depends how and for what purpose it’s being used. If technology is used to cure diseases in people, to help people communicate with each other across geographical boundaries, to reduce human effort by making things simple, easy and accessible, it indeed is a boon. However, if science and technology is used to prepare nuclear bombs or other weapons of war, it is harmful. As pros and cons of technology have always been debated, with some people arguing that its the best thing to have happened to human race and some totally against it, it is often wondered should the children, the future of mankind, be introduced to technology at a young age in schools? What is the importance of technology in classrooms? Let’s find out the answers†¦ Importance of Technology in the Classroom Active Participation When students are learning through technology, they are themselves looking for information on the Internet. They make their own decisions regarding the information i.e. whether it is relevant or irrelevant. They have control over how to use or present this information. Thus, one of the main benefits of using technology for classrooms is that unlike a teacher-led classroom, where students passively receive whatever information the teacher is providing, in tech savvy classrooms, students are active participants. In-depth Knowledge Jon Stewart once commented, â€Å"The Internet is just a world passing around notes in a classroom.† By using the Internet technology, obtaining information on all kinds of subjects has become very easy. A student sitting in his classroom can learn how people in a small village in Africa live life. Thus, Internet is a kind of library which is at the disposal of a student with just a click. A student can acquire in-depth knowledge on any subject using this vast resource. Real-life Work Experience The importance of technology in the classroom can be gauged from the fact that it offers an experience to students similar to the working environment that one sees in offices. In technology savvy classrooms, a teacher acts as a facilitator who sets project goals for the students and provides them with the necessary resources and guidelines to reach those goals. The student himself makes decisions with regards to the design choices, the information he wants to use and display, the resources that he will use. You may read more on the importance of science and technology. Moreover, these days, students themselves are very tech savvy and may sometimes even know more than the teacher himself. So, there is a constant exchange of information between the students and the teachers. Such an environment prepares a student to work in business organizations in the future. Increased Motivation Researches have shown that there is great importance of integrating technology in the classroom. When students are taught through slide shows or by showing films, it makes the lessons very easy and interesting for them. It helps in their learning, at the same time motivates them to attend school everyday. Thus, another importance of technology in schools is that it brings down the drop-out rates. Technical Skills Using computers on a daily basis, helps the students in developing an understanding of the various computer tools and softwares. This kind of education prepares the students and makes it easier for them to learn about the various software applications in future. You may read more on why is technology so important today. This very well defines the importance of computers in the classroom.

Develope a project schedule Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Develope a project schedule - Essay Example These shall also not involve any physical construction of project parts. Rather, there shall be a lot of boardroom work to ensure that the outcome of the feasibility studies is extensively digested. For instance the total cost of the project that emerges from the feasibility study shall be discussed on ways of meeting up those costs. The planning activities shall also include the setting up of an overseer committing and the drawing of a general plan s. following the planning stage shall be the actual execution of the project. This stage is thus named the execution stage and shall involve several ground work rather than boardroom work. There shall for instance be a system design project where the master plan system to be used in the construction of the project target shall be designed. More to this, all engineers shall be on site to put parts and pieces of the project together to ensure that actual manufacturing goes on. The last but one stage is the control stage. This stage shall have two phases. The two phases involve on-the-ground evaluation and off-the-ground evaluation. On-the-ground evaluation involves a rapid and continuous evaluation and monitoring exercise that shall be carried out on the project execution stage. This means that from time to time, there shall be officers who shall be monitoring and giving reports on the progress of the work. The off-the-grounds phase shall also be a generalized evaluation activity for the project after everything has ended. After this stage, the project shall successfully be closed. Looking at the various stages and the activities involved, the following duration for execution has been designed. The motive for allocation of time is from the perspective that the overall aim of the project is to save a lot of time in the construction of a unit machine. The whole project should therefore be executed in a total of eight (8) weeks. From the schedule table, it

The impact of internet payment systems upon the retail sector Essay

The impact of internet payment systems upon the retail sector - Essay Example One of the most classical and beneficial advancements of the internet, that has been critically beneficial for growing cross-border trade and commerce, has been the internet payment system or e-trading concept; some other titles for the same are e-shopping, e-business, e-marketing – where ‘e’ simply implies conducting transactions via electronic medium. Classically, ‘shopping’ or ‘purchases’ took place face-to-face i.e. purchase against cash. With the advancements of the banking system, some purchases moved against the cheque system, and then against credit cards – plastic money. However, the arrival of the ‘e’ age, it became critical to have a reliable source of payments since purchases technically took place over the internet. Such situation gave birth to the need of a medium of payment other than credit and debit cards. Subsequently, there came third-party payment systems such as PayPal, Bank-transfers, Alert-Pay, E -Gold, etc. With the advancements of ‘e’ purchases, such third-party systems have assisted in providing enhanced sales. The Impact of Internet Payment System on Retail Sector The retail sector has significantly benefited from the advent and advancements of the internet payment system. In particular, as the said system has eased the process of e-shopping with added security features. Initially, this turned out to be a huge competitive edge for the smaller retailers as they embedded e-shopping along with internet payment systems, providing the ease of shopping from home comfort to the customers, pushing the competing bigger names to adapt the same strategy. However, initially, the advantages of this internet payment system were not known to be gone as far as they are today. In the initial phase, it was just assumed to provide comfort and ease of shopping, reducing the cost of selling for the seller, increasing margins, reducing the waiting-line phenomenon to a higher degr ee. Today, the cross-functional advancement of the MIS has led the firms into realizing the long-run potential of the various aspects of such payment systems. Prior to such advancements, the concept of home delivery and cash-on-delivery prevailed, which was not very encouraged by the retailers across the world in all sectors and industries. Fake order placements and false addressing were common issues; but internet based payment systems have reduced such issues to a much greater extent, and also made the consumer market much more mature. As a buyer now knows that internet based payment system reveals complete identity and contact information, and with IP tracking facility over the internet, there are lesser chances of individuals involving themselves in such or similar activities. The first and foremost advantage of the internet payment system is the ease of marketing for the marketers; marketers rely solely on the information and crave for reliable and authentic sources of informat ion. When purchases are made through paper money, the buyer remains unknown to the seller. However, when plastic money and internet payment systems are involved, the buyer no more remains anonymous; rather the buyer along with the buying habits and practices becomes visible to the marketer, and thus, marketers can develop groups and strata and segments to ensure that they target the right audience with the right combination of products and services. When it comes to e-marketing, marketers need as accurate of a data as possible, primarily due to the fact that e-marketing relies heavily on reaching the right customer –