Explain how the mechanicals bring humour into the play Essay Example for Free

Explain how the mechanicals bring humour into the play Essay The mechanicals in A Midsummer Nights Dream are the group of actors that bring most of the comedy to the play. This is done by the mechanicals resembling the more unintelligent group out of the four featured in A Midsummer Nights Dream. In the book, the mechanicals are called the Clowns. This implies that they are always fooling around; never getting any work done and maybe making people laugh. Maybe Shakespeare called them the Clowns because they convey most of the humour towards the audience in A Midsummer Nights Dream. However, the mechanicals play near the end of A Midsummer Nights Dream is a serious play; where they do not mess around as they do in the rest of the book. This might suggest that the name Shakespeare gave to the actors (Clowns) does not imply all that it is supposed to. From the start we establish that Bottom takes his role as a leader and we notice that others look up to him as if they are respecting his authority. One of the characters names (Bottom) sounds rude now, but back when the play was first performed the word bottom meant courageous. Nick Bottom comes across in A Midsummer Nights Dream as thunderous, friendly, and a little over-confident. He comes across to the other actors in the mechanicals as dumb or dull, insecure and irritating (e. g. when Bottom wants to play all the parts in the play And I may hide my face, let me play Thisbe too! Ill speak in a monstrous little voice). Bottom also says that he will play every part in their play flawlessly, and that he can act every single part. Instead, when Bottom is rehearsing his part in the play, he messes everything up (pronouncing words wrong Odious instead of odorous) and he forgets lines. In the end, he just plays Pyramus. The way the mechanicals bring humour into A Midsummer Nights Dream is mainly through Nick Bottom. Bottom is the fool in the play; always getting things wrong. Bottom comes across as a little dumb; maybe eccentric. He gets his words wrong, comes up with feeble ideas, and has a spell put on him by Puck. The spell transforms Bottoms head into an asss head. I think it would convey more humour to A Midsummer Nights Dream by having Bottom transform into an ass entirely. Near the end of A Midsummer Nights Dream, in act 5 scene 1, the mechanicals act out their play. Many things bring humour into A Midsummer Nights Dream at this point. Peter Quince tells the audience that the lion is not a lion, but Snug the joiner. The audience would know that the lion is not a real lion, as it is just common sense. When Snug is playing the part of the lion, Snug doesnt want to scare the audience so the actor roars as softly as he can. Snug also explains that he is not really a lion, but playing the part of a lion. This may mean that when the play was performed, being a lion was a disgrace, or an insult. The result of Snug explaining that he is not really a lion, but playing the part of, is that he will not be shamed after the play, or be booed by Theseus. After Snug is finished explaining the he is not a lion, he earns approval from Lysander, Theseus and Demetrius (the stage audience). Shakespeare uses language to create moods and atmosphere within the characters, and also make the characters think how they are feeling. The main mood created in of A Midsummer Nights Dream is that of humour. He creates these moods by the descriptive writing he uses in his sentences. His sentences are well structured, and he chooses the places well where he makes the characters speak in prose and verse. For instance, when the mechanicals are talking casually together, they speak in verse; when acting out their play in front of the duke, they speak in prose. Some of the misunderstandings of the mechanicals are when Puck puts the spell on Bottom. Quince says O monstrous! O strange! We are haunted! Pray, masters, fly, masters! Help! This shows that they are unsure of what to think of Bottom, and Bottom is oblivious to the fact that he has an asses head on him. Instead Bottom starts singing (to show that he id not afraid of what they are saying to him). This in turn wakes Titania up, who has had the love juice put on her eyes. As she wakes up, she instantly falls in love with Bottom. This is reminiscent of the fact that of A Midsummer Nights Dreams main mood it creates is that of humour and that it is mainly the mechanicals that are involved in, or create the humour.

The reasons that caused Lehman Brothers to collapse

The reasons that caused Lehman Brothers to collapse The bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers was a result of the investment banks exposure to the 2007-2010 financial crisis. In fact, the demise of the investment bank would come to symbolize the crisis. Therefore, in order to understand the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, a consummate understanding of the 2007-2010 financial crisis is requisite. As such, an examination of crisis will serve as introductory. Several factors contributed to the fall of Lehman Brothers. Perhaps most important, however, was the period of deregulation that preceded the crisis. Arguably, the period of deregulation started during the Reagan Era. Reaganomics, the lassiez faireeconomic policies advocated by the former president, may have served as the starting point for the deregulatory climate that ensued for the following two decades. Either way, the following two decades witnessed an overriding belief in the virtues of deregulation. In 1999, President Clinton signed the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Financial Services Modernization Act into law. The act repealed portions of the Glass-Steagall Act (Banking Act of 1933). The Glass-Steagall Act prohibited universal banking. Universal banking is defined as a single institution acting as an investment bank, a commercial bank, and an insurance company(Investopedia). The repeal of Glass-Steagall allowed for harmful activity on the part of several financial intermediaries, including Lehman Brothers. For example, commercial banks played a crucial role as buyers and sellers of mortgage-backed securities, credit-default swaps and other explosive financial derivatives. Without the watering down and ultimate repeal of Glass-Steagall, the banks would have been barred from most of these activities (Demos 3). Several other factors contributed to the financial crisis, including:subprime lending, credit conditions, financial instruments, and an increase in home prices. Many subprime mortgages were predatory in nature. Often, the borrower had little chance of repayment. As mortgages were often bundled and sold, lenders were less concerned with a borrowers ability to repay the mortgage. In addition, over 80% of subprime mortgages were adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs)(Lee).A combination of declining home prices and higher reset rates for ARMs caused delinquencies to increase dramatically. Subprime lending was fueled by low interest rates. After September 11, 2001, the Fed lowered rates. In periods of low interest rates, lending becomes more profitable. As such, banks were pressured to increase subprime lending. By 2006, subprime loans accounted for 20 percent of all mortgage loans (Kratz). The use of financial innovation to create complex financial instruments (derivatives) played a significant role in both subprime lending and the financial crisis. For example, banks sold mortgages, through the securitization process, to investors, in order to finance subprime lending. Asset-backed securities (ABSs) were a common securitization arrangement. A portfolio of income-producing assets (loans) is sold by the originating banks to a special purpose vehicle and the cash flows from the assets are then allocated to tranches (Hull 190). The securitized loan is then sold to investors as an ABS. The process is depicted below. ABS CDS In addition, another derivative, a credit default swap (CDS), was designed to provide insurance to protect against default. CDSs allowed investors to synthetically bet against the asset-backed securities. The process is akin to multiple people buying insurance on the same house (Demos). As such, when mortgages began to default, causing the value of ABSs to decline, the losses to insurance agencies were magnified. The combination of all three of the aforementioned factors caused a remarkable increase in home prices. Low interest rates encouraged borrowing. In addition, many subprime borrowers believed home prices would continue to appreciate in perpetuity. As such, subprime borrowers acquired ARMs. ARMs were a product of the financial innovation mentioned earlier. Between 1997 and 2006, the amalgamation of these factors resulted in a 124 percent increase in home prices (SP/Case-Shiller). Market Making In order to better understand the collapse of Lehman Brothers, it is necessary to examine the functions and practices of an investment bank. The sales and trading desks at investment banks had primarily acted as market makers. Market makers are a broker-dealer firms that  accept the risk of holding a  certain number of shares of a particular security in order to facilitate trading in that security (Investopedia). In other words, market makers provide liquidity to markets by quoting both bid and offer prices. In contrast,investment banks eventually began proprietary trading. Proprietary trading involves taking positions in assets, as opposed to profiting from the bid-offer spread (market making). Lehman Brothers, through proprietary trading, had large levered positions in both subprime mortgages and mortgage-backed securities. When the value of these assets began to decline, the firms equity was wiped out and the bank became insolvent. Proprietary Trading Collapse On September 15, 2008, Lehman Brothers filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy. This was the largest bankruptcy filing in U.S. history. The bank declared a debt of $613 billion, bond debt of $155 billion and $639 billion worth of assets. The demise of Lehman Brothers was caused by a combination of the rejection of bailout from the government, lack of a willing buyer, and the mortgage crisis. The reasons behind the government rejection of a Lehman Brothers bailout are hotly contested. Prior to Lehmans bankruptcy, the government had saved both American Insurance Group (AIG) and Bear Sterns from a similar fate. According to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, the government failed to bailout Lehman Brothers for two reasons. First, the government lacked legal authority to intervene. Second, Lehman had insufficient capital. The Federal Reserve could only make a loan, Bernanke explained, if collateral supported ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Giving Lehman a loan then would be lending into a run, Bernanke feltà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ The assessment was that if there was a run, which there would be . . . all we would have accomplished would be to make counterparties whole and not succeed in preventing the collapse of the company (dailyfinance.com).Many theorize that the government didnt save Lehman Brothers in order to teach market participants a lesson. However , Bernanke refutes, I speak for myself, and I think I can speak for others, that at no time did we say, We could save Lehman, but we wont. Our concern was about the financial system, and we knew the implications for the greater financial system would be catastrophic, and it was (dailyfinance.com). Lehman Brothershad potential buyers in bothBank of America and Barclays Capital. However, without government assistance,both Bank of America and Barclays Capital walked. Lehman was forced into liquidation. September 16, 2008, the day following Lehman Brothers file for bankruptcy, Barclays signed a definitive agreement to acquire certain parts of Lehman as well as their New York headquarters building. The deal was revised days later for Barclays to acquire the core business of Lehman Brothers including their $960 million Midtown Manhattan office skyscraper and 10,000 employees for $1.35 billion. With few other options, Lehman had little choice but to acquiesce. On September 22, 2008, Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired Lehman Brothers franchise in the Asia Pacific region including multiple locations and 3,000 employees. The mortgage crisis played a significant role in the collapse of Lehman Brothers. Lehman was a major player in subprime lending. Lehman was a leader in both mortgage lending and loans securitization of mortgages. Subprime lending and securitization represented an increasing large portion of Lehmans revenues. As such, the firm was irrevocably linked to the mortgage market. When mortgage default rates began to rise, demand for MBSs decreased. Lehman was stuck with billions of dollars of toxic assets on its balance sheet. Lehman would eventually close its mortgage lending operations. The following year, due to holding on to large positions in subprime and other lower-rated mortgage tranches, Lehman faced significant losses. By 2007, Lehmans leverage ratio (measurement of risk) also increased tremendously to 31:1 putting them in a very vulnerable position because they were too thinly capitalized for the leverage used. This was allowed because they were not subject to the same regulations as depository banks. Deregulation allowed for Lehman to take those increasingly risky positions. Market Effects Lehman Brothers bankruptcy filing on September 15, 2008 caused the DJIA to drop over 500 points (-4.4%). September 15, 2008 marked the biggest one day drop since the markets reopened following September 11, 2001. The DJIA would eventually lose an additional 43% of its value, erasing more than US$ 1 T in market capitalization. World stock market indices suffered a similar fate. The FTSE All-World Index would eventually lose 2400 points (44% of its value). The prospect of Lehman liquidating $4.3 billion in mortgage securities sparked a selloff in the commercial mortgage-backed security (MBS) market. Several money and institutional funds had significant exposure to Lehman. BNY Mellons institutional cash fund and the primary reserve fund (an MMMF) both fell below $1 per share due to exposure to Lehman. The Net Asset Value (NAV) of MMMFs normally stays constant at $1 because investment products usually do not produce capital gains or losses (Investopedia). This event was referred to as the breaking of the buck. Overall systematic risk increased drastically as a result of the bankruptcy filing. Due to the increase in systemic risk, there was a US$ 737 B decline in collateral outstanding in the securities lending market. In addition, the TED Spread, the spread between U.S. treasury rates and LIBOR rates, increased almost 400 basis points. Essentially, the dramatic increase in the TED spread was due to overwhelming uncertainty. LIBOR rates incorporate a small amount of credit risk; U.S. Treasury rates are seen as virtually risk-free. The uncertainty caused the rate differential between a small amount of credit risk and risk-free to widen. After the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy filing, in order to address the escalating crisis, the government created the Troubles Assets Relief Program (TARP). TARP was designed to purchase both assets and equity from financial intermediaries (FIs). The purpose of its design was threefold. First, by purchasing assets, the government hoped to remove toxic assets from the banks balance sheets. Second, by increasing equity positions, TARP recapitalized the troubled banks. Third, TARP was also implemented to encourage inter-bank lending. Opinion The bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers was preventable. The preventability of the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy is primarily due to three factors. First, corporate culture is dictated by upper-level management (this is especially true in top-down hierarchical organizations). At Lehman Brothers, CEO Richard Fuld created a culture of risk taking. A corporate culture that reflected conservatism could have prevented the banks demise. Second, as a corollary, tougher risk management policies could have prevented risk taking behavior. For example, by historical measures, Lehman had a tremendous used a tremendous amount of leverage. As mentioned, a 3 percent decline in asset prices would wipe out the firms equity. A leverage cap could have been used to prevent the overuse of leverage. Third, the weak economic climate was disastrous for Lehman. Lehman had large positions in the mortgage market. When the market began to decline, those positions went against the investment bank. To prevent the three factors, the firm should have hired a CEO that advocated a less risky business strategy. In addition, reduce employees compensation based on profit generation. The firm could have also employed a more market neutral trading strategy. In doing so, Lehman would have avoided insolvency. As mentioned, several ways exist to prevent the failure of the investment bank. However,all the above approaches Lehman CEO Richard Fuld are tailored to Lehman Brothers unique situation. They may or may not, however, be industry-wide or socially beneficial.To prevent another financial crisis and, therefore, the failure of financial institutions, we must align the self-interests of those institutions with societal interests. The following are recommendations for aligning the above interests: à ¢- Long-term Incentive Structure à ¢- Fiduciary Responsibility à ¢- Promote Financial Education à ¢- Prevent the Manipulation of Social Interests We need to develop a long-term incentive structure to prevent executives trying to capture profit upfront at expense of the company and/or societys long-term interests. We could design a longer-term incentive structure that employees will be compensated for their performance over longer periods of times other than the currently yearly compensation. Also we could design compensation program make the compensations based on certain activities callable in the future, if the loss of the company is deemed directly related to the those activities that the compensations are based on. Fiduciary responsibility should be mandatory and financial institutions should be held legally accountable. We need to require full disclosure of conflict of interest, not only in the event that two parties have a direct interest conflict, but also full disclosure when companies providing a financial service have different opinions than the clients current position. In addition, we should expand the concept of full disclosure. We propose making academic researchers disclose the benefit they are getting from financial institutions, including board positions and monetary compensation. Promote education of the general public. Specifically, implement finance classes in public high schools, ensuring all students are aware of market basics. In addition, make firms provide optional education on specific products to clients. Lastly, we must reduce or eliminate attempts to make social interests subservient to self-interests. This concept could apply to all industries. We could limit the funding of lobbyists a firm could hire, and highly restrict the political donations from large firms.We must also eliminate the links between government regulators and market participants, eliminating the conflict of interest between corporations and society. In general, the aforementioned actions are attempts to align self-interest with the social interest. Self-interest, the invisible hand in the successful free market system, must be made to serve the interest of the society. Conclusion This report has examined the following: the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, the bankruptcys causes, the culpable parties, market effects of the bankruptcy, and risk management errors relating to the bankruptcy. In addition, the opinion section of the paper answers the question, Was the bankruptcy preventable? In summary, on September 15, 2008, the Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy. It was the largest bankruptcy filing in U.S. history. Several causes forced Lehman into bankruptcy. Of primary importance, however, was the investment banks exposure to the subprime mortgage market. Deregulation and risk management errors allowed Lehman to increase that exposure. Lehmans CEO Richard Fuld, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke are each culpable. Mr. Fuld is responsible because he created a culture of risk taking and pay based on short-term performance. Henry Paulson and Mr. Bernanke could have saved the bank and chose to do otherwise. We believe this event was entirely preventable. As mentioned, the banks exposure to the subprime mortgage market was, ultimately, its downfall. If more stringent risk management policies had been in place and Lehmans corporate culture had been more conservative, the banks exposure to the crisis would have been reduced. Reduced exposure would have undoubtedly increased Lehmans chances for survival. A singular theme continuously appeared while we conducted our research and, consequently, appeared throughout this report. That theme is greed. Greed is defined as excessive or rapacious desire, especially for wealth or possessions. Unquestionably, human greed contributed to the 2007-2010 financial crisis. Both financial intermediaries and individuals erred. For example, AIG reported record profits in 2007. Unfortunately, the insurer earned those profits by taking on enormous amounts of Off-Balance-Sheet risk. These OBS liabilities (contingent liabilities) resulted in an $85 B government bailout of the firm. Individuals speculated on home prices by refinancing mortgages. Often times, these loans were secured by home equity. When home prices declined, the mortgages went underwater.Mortgage defaults soared. In both cases, greed blinded the market participants. Lehman Brothers wasnt impervious to the rapacious desire either. Leverage is the use of either borrowed money and/or derivatives to multiply gains and losses. The multiplication of gains and losses (greater volatility) implies an increase in risk. Recklessly increasing risk demonstrates an excessive desire for wealth.Therefore, leverage metrics (ratios) can be used tomeasure greed. Prior to the crisis, Lehmans leverage ratios soared. Viewing a single financial product, event, action, or asset bubble as the sole cause of the crisis is overly simplistic. Greed served as a catalyst for each. By ignoring this fact, we are doomed to repeat our mistakes.

Sir Isaac Newton vs Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz :: Sir Isaac Newton Essays

Sir Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz are two of the most supreme intellects of the 17th century. They are both considered to be the inventors of Calculus. However, after a terrible dispute, Sir Isaac Newton took most of the credit. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716) was a German philosopher, mathematician, and statesman born in the country of Leipzig. He received his education at the universities of Leipzig, Jena, and Altdorf. He received a doctorate in law. He devoted much of his time to the principle studies of mathematics, science, and philosophy. Leibniz's contribution in mathematics was in the year 1675, when he discovered the fundamental principles of infinitesimal calculus. He arrived at this discovery independently at the same time along with the English scientist Sir Isaac Newton in 1666. However, Leibniz's system was published in 1684, three years before Newton published his. Also at this time Leibniz's method of notation, known as mathematical symbols, were adopted universally. He also contributed in 1672 by inventing a calculating machine that was capable of multiplying, dividing, and extracting square roots. All this made him to be considered a pioneer in the developement of mathematical logic. Sir Isaac Newton is the other major figure in the development of Calculus. He was an English mathemetician and physcist, whose considered to be one of the greatest scientists in history. Newton was born on December 25, 1642 at Woolsthorpe, near Grantham in Lincolnshire. He attended Trinity College, at the University of Cambridge. He received his bachelor's degree in 1665 and received his master's degree in 1668. However, there he ignored much of the universities established curriculum to pursue his own interests: mathematics and natural philosophy. Almost immediately, he made fundamental discoveries in both areas. Newtons dicoveries was made up of several different things. It consisted of combined infinite sums which are known as infinite series. It also consisted of the binomial theorem for frational exponents and the algebraic expression of the inverse relation between tangents and areas into methods that we refer to today as calculus. However, the story is not that simple. Being that both men were so-called universal geniuses, they realized that in different ways they were entitled to have the credit for â€Å"inventing calculus†. Both engaged in a violent dispute over priority in the invention of calculus. Unfortunately, Newton had the upper hand, considering that he was the president of the Royal Society. He used this position to to select a committee that would investigate the unsolved question. Apparently, Newton included himself on this committee (illegally) and submitted a false report that charged Leibniz with deliberate plagiarism. He was also the one who compiled the book of evidence that the â€Å"society† was Sir Isaac Newton vs Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz :: Sir Isaac Newton Essays Sir Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz are two of the most supreme intellects of the 17th century. They are both considered to be the inventors of Calculus. However, after a terrible dispute, Sir Isaac Newton took most of the credit. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716) was a German philosopher, mathematician, and statesman born in the country of Leipzig. He received his education at the universities of Leipzig, Jena, and Altdorf. He received a doctorate in law. He devoted much of his time to the principle studies of mathematics, science, and philosophy. Leibniz's contribution in mathematics was in the year 1675, when he discovered the fundamental principles of infinitesimal calculus. He arrived at this discovery independently at the same time along with the English scientist Sir Isaac Newton in 1666. However, Leibniz's system was published in 1684, three years before Newton published his. Also at this time Leibniz's method of notation, known as mathematical symbols, were adopted universally. He also contributed in 1672 by inventing a calculating machine that was capable of multiplying, dividing, and extracting square roots. All this made him to be considered a pioneer in the developement of mathematical logic. Sir Isaac Newton is the other major figure in the development of Calculus. He was an English mathemetician and physcist, whose considered to be one of the greatest scientists in history. Newton was born on December 25, 1642 at Woolsthorpe, near Grantham in Lincolnshire. He attended Trinity College, at the University of Cambridge. He received his bachelor's degree in 1665 and received his master's degree in 1668. However, there he ignored much of the universities established curriculum to pursue his own interests: mathematics and natural philosophy. Almost immediately, he made fundamental discoveries in both areas. Newtons dicoveries was made up of several different things. It consisted of combined infinite sums which are known as infinite series. It also consisted of the binomial theorem for frational exponents and the algebraic expression of the inverse relation between tangents and areas into methods that we refer to today as calculus. However, the story is not that simple. Being that both men were so-called universal geniuses, they realized that in different ways they were entitled to have the credit for â€Å"inventing calculus†. Both engaged in a violent dispute over priority in the invention of calculus. Unfortunately, Newton had the upper hand, considering that he was the president of the Royal Society. He used this position to to select a committee that would investigate the unsolved question. Apparently, Newton included himself on this committee (illegally) and submitted a false report that charged Leibniz with deliberate plagiarism. He was also the one who compiled the book of evidence that the â€Å"society† was

Effects of Different levels of T.V Violence on Aggression Essay

Abstract EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT LEVELS OF T.V VIOLENCE ON AGGRESSION: The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of different levels of television violence on grade school children. Since some studies show that younger children are more prone to aggression than older children. This study is designed to show how violence plays a role in aggression. The intention is to show that violence causes different aggression levels between males and females. The second purpose of this study is to show if there are any significant differences between males and females and aggression induced by violence. The information on gender difference and aggression is controversial. All the children were mixed in this experiment combined the male and females children in mixed groups. Each group randomly received 10 males and 10 females. One of the groups was the control group which viewed the non-violent video and the second group was the experimental group, which viewed a violent video. Girls and boys who had about the same level of aggression were chosen for th e experiment. Two televisions shows that contained different levels of violence were used in this study. Two volunteer teachers were present while the children viewed the videos. Measurement of aggression will be gathered from each student using a picture aggression test. Aggression levels were rated on a scale of 1 though 11, 11 being the highest level of aggression. The statistical results from group A, the boys who viewed Power Rangers, showed the mean of their level of aggression was 8.4. The variance, the precise measure of variability, of this group (1.64) was a significant difference. Group B for girls, who viewed Sesame Street, their mean was 1.6 and their variance was 0.16, also another significant difference. When comparing the numbers between the boys and girls in group A, the boys did appear to have a higher aggression level, than the girls in the same group, when they viewed the Power Ranger. In group B, the aggression level was higher for the girls than for boys in the same group, when they viewed Sesame Street. EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT LEVELS OF T.V VIOLENCE ON AGGRESSION: POTENTIAL GENDER DIFFERENCES Violence in the United States has risen to alarmingly high levels. Whether one considers assassination, group violence, or individual acts of violence, the decade of ... ...of Experimental Social Psychology, 38, 283-290. Berkowitz, L. (1993). Aggression: its causes, consequences, and control. Philadelphia: Temple University Press Boyatzis, C.J., & Maitllo, G.M. (1995). Effects of â€Å"The Mighty Morphine Power Rangers† on children’s aggression with peers. Child Study Journal, 25 (1). Retrieved 24 February 2005 from http://web12.epnet.com/ciatation.html. Fox, R. (1977) "The Inherent Rules of Violence," in Social Rules and Social Behavior, ed. P. Collette. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. Molitor, F., Hirsch, K.W. (1994). Children’s toleration of real-life aggression after exposure to Media violence: A replication of the Drabman and Thomas studies. Child Study Journal, 24 (3). Ridley-Johnson, R., Surdy, T., & O’Laughlin, E. (1991). Parent Survey on television violence viewing: Fear, aggression, and sex differences. Journal of Applied Development Psychology, 12, 63-71 Scott, J. (1975). Aggression 2d ed., rev. and expanded. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Surbeck, E. & Endsley, R.C (1979). Children’s emotional reactions to TV violence: Effects of film character, reassurance, age and sex. The Journal of Social Psychology, 109 (2), 269-28.

Preparing for and Having a Baby :: Pregnancy Childbearing Essays

Preparing for and Having a Baby There are many different areas to consider when preparing for and having a newborn. Whether the pregnancy was planned or unplanned or the couple is married or not, a newborn baby brings new responsibilities. Having a baby also forces people to make adjustments both financially and within the family. Parents also express concerns and expectations when having a newborn comma especially when it is their first; including what roles each parent and family member should play, how much confidence they have in their parenting skills, and how much financial strain would be placed on the family once the newborn has arrived. The newest issue in today’s society is the fact that many women are delaying childbirth and having more children in their later years of life. This paper will examine three of the areas associated with planning a newborn child, including single parenting, concerns and expectations parents have when planning for and having a child, and financial issues that mothers face when planning a pregnancy. (Specify if you are talking about single moms or parents/couples, if talking about all of them you might want to consider narrowing your research.) (Introduce this quote, where did you find it, how did you find the site, remember that this is a narrative, you are walking me through the steps of your research. ) â€Å"Today, about one in every three U.S. births occurs outside of marriage. The proportion of births to unmarried women has risen monotonically over time, and attitudes toward non - marital fertility have become progressively more tolerant† (Musick, 2002, p. 915). Sometimes these births are planned and at other times they are not. â€Å"Dramatic increases in cohabitation and associated delays in marriage have changed the composition and character of non-marital births. Unmarried mothers now tend to be older, to have other children, and to be living with a partner at the time of their child’s birth† (Musick, 2002, p. 915). What significance does this have to your research? What does it prove? Why did you include it? The article that I researched regarding this area explores the reasons why women may be taking the steps to start a family without marriage, whether these pregnancies are planned or unplanned. The study was conducted using a couple of different methods including the National Survey of Family Growth and a Discrete-Time Hazard Model. â€Å"The National Survey of Family Growth is a periodic, nationally representative fertility survey conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics.

Mixed Member Proportional Government for Canada

Canada's government system was drafted at the Quebec conference by the so-called â€Å"Fathers of Confederation.† In this system, the Queen of Great Britain has the formal executive power. This in effect made the Canadian government system loosely based on the system being used by the United Kingdom (One Stop Canada, n.d.). Up to now, the Queen is still the head of the state, but just like any other parliamentary democracy, her powers are extremely limited. It is still the Parliament that drafts and approves the country's laws, and then the Queen would give the final approval, so to speak, known as the â€Å"Royal Assent.† Whenever the Queen is not in Canada, the Governor General acts as her representative and performs all her ceremonial and administrative duties. The Governor General is always chosen by the Queen by virtue of the Prime Minister's recommendation. The Governor General normally stays in office for 5 years (One Stop Canada, n.d.). The seat of power lies in the House of Parliament, but specifically, in the House of Commons. It is them who make laws for â€Å"make laws for the peace, order and good government of Canada†, and this includes defence, international policies, criminal law, immigration, border control and customs. They are being elected every 5 years. The present system in the Canada is the single member representation, commonly known also as first past the post or plurality system, wherein the whole country is divided into constituencies (total of 308) and during elections, whoever gets the most number of votes in any particular constituency represents the constituency, and take a single seat in the Parliament (One Stop Canada, n.d.). This system is now being challenged by many because of the presumed â€Å"lack of real representation† of this system. Challenges on the current system and call for a change Statistics from last year's election show that in British Columbia, the Liberal Party gained 77 of the 79 seats for that province with only 58% of the votes, compared to the former ruling Democratic Party who only gained 2 seats despite getting 22% of the vote. (The Democratic Party held 52 seats during the elections before last year, with only 39.5% of the vote.) The Green Party, although they have won 12.5% of the total votes, got no seats at all. This recent election has proven to many that there is a need for a change in their electoral system. Adriane Carr, the British Columbia Green Party leader, leads the initiative to change the existing first-past-the-post system of Canada. Carr launched this initiative to encourage the government to consider her drafted legislation on the mixed member proportional government (Caron, 1999; Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand, 2002). In this proposed system, the benefits both electoral schemes will be combined. A voter will choose a candidate that he or she likes, and at the same time, vote for a party also. In this way, all constituencies will be represented, and at the same time, a proportionate number of seats will also be given to parties receiving a certain percentage of votes, thus, ensuring the representation on the interest or cause that it represents. It was also argued that this new system will maximize voter turnout as all votes will be taken into consideration, unlike the case of a first-past-the-post system where only the winning votes, so to speak, are represented in the parliament. This means that in this system, it would not only mean that the leading party would have seats in the Parliament, but also the minority party or parties, depending on the percentage of votes that they have won (Caron, 1999). This scheme is also said to increase the representation of women in the Parliament. In many countries in the Europe, proportional representation increased women representation by more than 10% (Caron, 1999). Such condition is something being advocated by parties like the Democratic Party in Canada. If proportional representation will be adopted by the Canadian political system, it is forecasted to increase the voter turnout from all levels of election, and at the same time, also increase the representation of other interests in the Parliament. Theoretically, this scheme will make all votes count. The ultimate question: Will this work in Canada? Many advocates of first-past-the-post system believe that if the system is not broken, then, do not fix it. But it appears that while it is not broken, there is a better way of doing it. Even cynics do not disagree with having a need for electoral reform. The current system of electoral process in Canada is based on a winner-take-all principle, which means that the only representation happening is the winning vote, i.e., the popular partisan viewpoint. This also means that the other vote, the losing view, lose their right to political representation. This system has produced a government with a winning party winning majority of seats, without really wining majority of the votes (Gordon, 2003). Canadians have only enjoyed true majority governments, elected by a majority of voters, four times since World War I (Gordon, 2003). The recent election show how â€Å"unrepresented† the voters are. And with the idea that they really have not attained a true majority government yet, still, they are using the first-past-the-post system despite the theoretically good outcome of a proportional representation system, or at least, the mixed member proportion. In all aspects of the theory, from the idea of being truly representative, to the idea of increasing voters' turnout, we know that this mixed member proportion will work. Since World War 1, only four times have the Canadian people attained a true representative majority, which means for only four times have the people been truly represented. This new system will in almost all certainty, reduce the control of the reigning party in the parliament. The system has worked or is still showing potential benefits in all countries which have tried this. Canada will not be an exemption. So, more than just asking if this system will work in Canada, the ultimate question is: Will the existing government give this a chance to work? Works cited: Caron, Jean-Franà §ois. â€Å"The end of the first-past-the post electoral system?† Canadian Parliamentary Review, 22.3 (Autumn 1999): 19-22. Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand, 2002. Rod Donald exports MMP to Canada. Press release (28th March 2002). Gordon, Larry. â€Å"It’s time for fair voting in Canada.† Economics at About.com (15 October 2003). One Stop Canada, n.d. Canadian Political System. http://www.onestopimmigration-canada.com/canadian_political_system.html

Coffee Bean Essay

ST. GREGORY’S UNIVERSITY Coffee Bean, Inc. Managerial Accounting, BU2123, Research Project, Spring 2007 Coffee Bean, Inc. (CBI) is a processor and distributor of a variety of blends of coffee. The company buys coffee beans from around the world and roasts, blends and packages them for resale. CBI currently has 40 different coffees that it offers to gourmet shops in one-pound bags. The major cost of the coffee is the raw coffee beans. However, there is a substantial amount of manufacturing overhead in the company’s predominantly automated roasting, blending and packing process. The company uses relatively little direct labor. Some of the coffees are very popular and sell in large volumes, while a few of the newer blends have very low volumes. CBI prices its coffee at manufacturing cost plus a markup of 30%. If CBI’s coffee prices are significantly higher than the market, adjustments are made to bring CBI’s prices more into alignment with the market. The company competes primarily on the quality of its products, but customers are price conscious as well. For the coming year, CBI’s budget includes estimated manufacturing overhead cost of $3,000,000. CBI assigns manufacturing overhead to products based on direct labor-hours. The expected direct labor cost totals $600,000, which represents 50,000 hours of direct labor time. Based on the sales budget and expected raw materials costs, the company will purchase and use $6,000,000 of raw materials (mostly coffee beans) during the year. The expected costs for direct materials and direct labor for one-pound bags of two of the company’s many coffee products appear below: Mona Loa $4. 20 0. 30 Malaysian $3. 20 0. 30 Direct Materials Direct Labor (0.025 hours per bag) CBI’s president is very concerned about lowering profit margins. Several prices have had to be reduced to meet market pressures and other products are selling at good volumes without price adjustments. The president talked with CBI’s controller who believes that the company’s traditional costing system, which uses direct labor costs to allocate manufacturing overhead, may be providing misleading cost information. To determine whether or not this is correct, the controller has prepared an analysis of the year’s expected manufacturing overhead costs, as shown in the following table. Activity Center Cost Driver Purchasing Purchase Orders Materials handling Number of Setups Quality control Number of Batches Roasting Roasting Hours Blending Blending Hours Packaging Packaging Hours Total manufacturing overhead cost: Expected Activity 1,710 orders 1,800 setups 600 batches 96,100 hours 33,500 hours 26,000 hours Expected Cost $ 513,000 720,000 144,000 961,000 402,000 260,000 $3,000,000 Data regarding the expected production of two representative products, Mona Loa and  . Coffee Bean Malaysian coffee, are presented below. There will be no raw materials inventory for either of these coffees at the beginning of the year. Mona Loa Malaysian 100,000 2,000 Pounds 10,000 500 Pounds 3 3 Per batch 20,000 500 Pounds 1. 0 / 100 1. 0 /100 Hours per pound 0. 5 / 100 0. 5 /100 Hours per pound 0. 1 / 100 0. 1 /100 Hours per pound Expected sales Batch size Setups Purchase order size Roasting time Blending time Packaging time Step into the shoes of the controller and prepare a complete report for the president explaining the results of your research. Compare the two product-costing methods: (1) the currently-used, volume-based method, and (2) an activity-based method. The supporting tables should determine full costs and prices of both products using the two different cost allocation methods. Continue your detailed report to the president by justifying why the company should remain using their present overhead allocation method or to go activity-based costing. Go beyond the accounting issues in your report, mentioning the impact on pricing, volume, and marketing decisions. Support your recommendation with current articles (Use the online resources of the SGU James J. Kelly Library to locate articles within the last year that deal with cost allocation issues). Three to five supporting articles should be sufficient to support your findings. Since this is a formal report, it will require a transmittal memo summarizing your findings. This memo/summary should be supported by a detailed report including tables and references to business/accounting literature. Include a bibliography in APA format. Also, since presidents rarely have time to read the entire article, but are interested in their content, provide an abstract of each citation. Remember: appearance, spelling, grammar count. Adapted from Managerial Accounting, Eight Edition, Garrison & Noreen, Irwin, 1997. 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