Miscarriages of Justice

â€Å"It’s a general problem not specific to the law of the United Kingdom a criminal justice system characterized by an emphasis on crime control rather than due process will inevitably produce miscarriage of justice. † In an imaginary world the law would always give the correct results but in a real world it’s the other way. When they don’t which way do they tend to err? Which way do we want to err? We want the law to err on the side of acquitting guilty people rather than convicting ones.It is generally accepted that the price of a fair Criminal Justice System will be acquittal on a technicality of those who have committed criminal offences or because of a failure of evidence, where as conviction of the innocent is never acceptable and should it arise speedy measures should be taken to rectify the injustice. The criminal law must be enforced efficiently by the agencies to police the criminal law.There are two main values that influence the criminal Just ice System, the crime control model which focuses to free society from crime and the due process model which focuses on individual liberties to be protected. The crime control model ensures that a civilized society can protect all of its citizens from victimization by criminals. But whether this has happened is questionable because when the Criminal Justice System is tilted more towards crime control there is a chance of an innocent person being convicted of a crime he never committed thus forming a miscarriage of justice.In recent times countries like United Kingdom, America, Canada and Ireland have tilted more towards crime control mainly because of the terrorist attacks that shook those nations. Moreover the racial attitude in the police and also in the society has led the crime control to be harsh on the society. The miscarriages that happen maybe due to discriminatory police practices, it may be due to incompetent scientific evidence or the over-reliance of the court on expert testimony. Where mistakes, made by those who have power within the process so this power when abused can have critical consequences.The protection of innocent remains fundamental to the process of justice and for many the sole purpose, it should not be absolute according to Ashworth (1998). The acquittal of guilty persons can also be seen as a miscarriage of justice. The process of justice is one marked by the use of agency and individual discretion, most notably by the police. Both the due process and crime control models allow for that discretion, although the former does seek legislative means for reducing its use and influence.The crime control model relies on presumption of guilt, the recognition that victims should have more rights than the accused, belief that prison and other punishment must be unpleasant in order to work, belief that sentences must be long to protect the public and belief that keeping order on the street is more important than following the letter of the la w. The crime control model is about focusing the purpose of the Criminal Justice Process on the demands of the majority of citizens who are law abiding.It seems clear that the current Criminal Justice Process was designed for the much lower level of crime that existed in the past and is too bureaucratic, time consuming and inefficient to deal effectively with the sheer volume of crime that now exists. This system demands a high level of informal fact finding, the case is dealt with outside of the formal court setting as much as possible. The model rightly assumes that offenders â€Å"rights are less important than victim rights and justice is for the majority of law abiding citizens not for the minority of repeat offenders.This model of justice accepts that there will be a few aberrant cases where the innocent are convicted, but this is justified by the notion that crime control overwhelmingly achieves the greater good for the majority. At the international level miscarriage of jus tice is the subject of norms but its meaning is imprecise. Lord Phillip and Brown presume ‘the man on the street would define ‘miscarriage of justice’ as the conviction of the innocent. It was stated in the Court of Appeal case of Exp.Bateman(1994) that man might define the term more broadly, to include those convicted when they should not have been. In countries the policing the law we see that more power has been vested in the police which is one reason for the crime control model to cause miscarriages of justice. Specially in America after the 9/11 terrorist attack the government has taken measures to prevent crimes as much as possible. The 9/11 attack not only influenced the government but influence the society to look at people an a suspicious way.For example after the 9/11 attack a muslim person, with his beard and his dress code, walks in the street with a bag on his hand or back, people look at him as if he is a terrorist with a bomb. This view of society should change for it is society that subjects the police and the government to undue pressure. In 2005 the terrorist attack in London (7/7) killed 56 people and 700 were injured. This was the largest and deadliest terrorist attack in London in history. It is clear that law enforcement agencies powers have increases with the statutes that have been implemented.The Terrorist Act 200 created a power to carry out blanket stop and searches. The Anti- Terrorism Crime and Security Act 2001 introduced new powers for the Treasury to freeze terrorist funds and control orders on terrorist suspects can be imposed under the Terrorism Act 2005. The Terrorist Act 2006 gives police the power to detain terrorist suspects up to 28 days. Not only the acts gave the police powers but it always helped them misuse it. The Police Reform Act 202 supplements existing police powers which follow the established trend towards broadening powers of law enforcement agencies and diluting the safeguards for the susp ect.The ‘war on terror’ is now a common feature of crime prevention and detection in United Kingdom. Police appear to tour the streets in far greater numbers than they did prior to 9/11 and 7/7 attacks. More over there is an issue as to an ethnic minority in the law enforcement agencies. Local communities, where those being policed have felt for some years that powers possessed by the police have become too intrusive and are being used in a discriminatory way to target particular groups within the community.Research has shown that that Black and Asian people are more likely to be stopped under the provisions of the Terrorism Act 2000 than white people. When police powers are increased for the protection of citizens from terrorist attack they need to be employed even more carefully to ensure that citizens do not become as vulnerable to the police as they do to the terrorist attack. However increased powers of policing maybe necessary to contain the threat of terror and t o ensure national security is maintained.Recent cases have showed that where police and other agencies have made a mistake or has been misused their powers there has been a miscarriage of justice. In Dabilola Taylor’s case it was observed how lack of techniques and skills on the part of the investigating officers resulted in bringing to justice who killed Dabilola. In Stephen Lawrence case it was proved that there was racism in the police force. In Confait it was revealed that the conviction based on confession had been made subject to oppression. JeanCharles de Menezes was shot by the Metropolitan Police armed forces who believed he was a terrorist but later found out he was not. Moreover the changes that have been taken place within the statutes also may cause a miscarriage of justice. In Sam Hallam’s case the witness’s evidence was not inconsistent with the earlier evidence. The long standing rule at common law was that where a witness’s testimony in c ourt was inconsistent with a previous statement, it could not be treated as evidence as to the truth of its contents. Juries could not take account of the contents of such statements in reaching their verdict.This rule was changed by section 119 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 which now allows previous inconsistent statements to be admitted in evidence. Reforms and recommendations have been implemented to reduce the rate of crime and not let an innocent person be guilty of a crime he never committed. The Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996 came into force The CCRC is charged with reviewing convictions and sentences referring them to the appropriate court if it finds a â€Å"real possibility† that the court will judge a conviction unsafe or a sentence excessive.The CCRC covers England Wales and Northern Ireland and receive almost 1000 new applications each year. One could say that the implementation of the CCRC has been a big impact because it gives the proper resu lt. The CCRC first review was that of Derek Bentley where the Court of Appeal quashed the conviction unsafe, which was a victory for the commission but not for Derek Bentley, who was hung way back in 1953. The commissions do produce good result but the fact is that it takes a long time to deliver the goods.Many reforms have been implemented in recent years have eliminated or significantly reduced the number of wrongful convictions arising as a result of or permitted because of lax procedures, notably Police and Criminal Evidence Act and the rules on the disclosure of evidence by the Crown. According to Roskill report crime control strategies tend to stress towards The English System has been charactarised in some ways by the move from crime control to due process over the last 15-20 years. It is notable that the society wants to be free of crime and also they need their liberties to be protected but it is hard thing to achieve.All of human activity, the criminal justice included is imperfect and sadly justice will not always prevail. Some of the causes are beyond the criminal justice agencies or even the content of procedural rules and substantive law. As the cases show the crime control model does causes more miscarriage of justices. Therefore it is rightly to conclude that a criminal justice system characterized by an emphasis on crime control rather than due process will inevitably produce miscarriages of justice.

Suicide Bombers: Psychopaths or Not?

Psychopath or not? Are suicide bombers crazy? Do you think their way of thinking is rational? At first, the answer anyone would give seems obvious: they must be crazy and have irrational thoughts to blow themselves up and kill innocent people in the process. However, terrorism experts have proposed several rational motives for their actions. Some political scientists believe that terrorists make a tactical choice to use suicide bombings against a stronger enemy. Other experts argue that suicide terrorism is part of a â€Å"cycle of humiliation† fueled by a suicide bombers’ desire to strike back at those who have mistreated or shamed them.Some psychologists have concluded that suicide bombers are ordinary, everyday people who are unlikely to commit violent acts until they identify with and join a terrorist group which manipulates and pressures them to commit these violent acts. Suicide bombing attacks have become a weapon of choice among terrorist groups because of their lethality and ability to cause mayhem and fear. Though depressing, the almost daily news reports of deaths caused by suicide attacks rarely explain what motivates the attackers.Between 1981 and 2006, 1200 suicide attacks constituted 4 percent of all terrorist attacks in the world and killed 14,599 people or 32 percent of all terrorism related deaths. The question is why? Between 1981 and 2006, 1200 suicide attacks constituted 4 percent of all terrorist attacks in the world and killed 14,599 people or 32 percent of all terrorism related deaths. (figure 1) Despite everyone’s stereotype belief that suicide bombers â€Å"are both sociopathic and irrational people, many political scientists believe that most terrorists are rational people with tactical goals.Evans (a political scientist), for example, argues that terrorism is a strategy. Those who use it want to expose their cause, draw the enemy into a costly conflict, and provoke an overreaction that will make the enemy look f oolish or evil, recruit supporters, and prevent finding the middle ground. Robert Pape also believes that suicide terrorism has an essential strategic logic. It is politics more than religious passion that has led terrorists to blow themselves up.In Roberts view, â€Å"Suicide-terrorist attacks are not encouraged by religion but more as a clear strategic objective: to force modern democracies to remove military forces from the territory that the terrorists view as their homeland. † While terrorism can be seen as a rational strategy, feelings of shame and embarrassment may make suicide the weapon of choice because they can get their revenge as well as just end their miserable life, Interviews of failed bombers or bombers-in-training reveal that they are striking back at those who humiliated or injured them.On October 4, 2003, 29 year old Palestinian lawyer Hanadi Jaradat exploded her suicide belt in the Maxim restaurant in Haifa killing 20 people and wounding many more. Accord ing to her family, her suicide mission was in revenge for the killing of her brother and her fiance by the Israeli security forces and in revenge for all the crimes Israel had perpetrated in the West Bank by killing Palestinians and confiscating their lands. The main motive for many suicide bombings in Israel is revenge for acts committed by Israelis. The bombers want to send a message: their enemies are responsible for their humiliation and ultimately for their death.In September 2007 when American forces raided an Iraqi insurgent camp in the desert town of Singar near the Syrian border they discovered biographies of more than seven hundred foreign fighters. The Americans were surprised to find that 137 were Libyans and 52 of them were from a small Libyan town of Darnah. The reason why so many of Darnah’s young men had gone to Iraq for suicide missions was not the global jihadi ideology, but an explosive mix of desperation, pride, anger, sense of powerlessness, local traditi on of resistance and religious fervor.A similar mix of factors is now motivating young Pashtuns to volunteer for suicide missions in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Further evidence that suicide bombers are responding to humiliation is found in the 430 recorded biographies of suicide bombers which were carefully analyzed by terrorist experts Haqqani and Kimmage. Professor Riaz Hassan, author of a forthcoming book on suicide bombing, tells us. For one, the conventional wisdom that bombers are insane or religious fanatics is wrong.Typically, most suicide bombers are psychologically normal and are deeply integrated into social networks and emotionally attached to their national communities. Individual bombers show no personality disorders and the attacks themselves are often politically motivated, aimed at achieving specific strategic goals such as forcing concessions or generating greater support. Moreover, the motivations are complex: â€Å"humiliation, revenge, and altruism† all dr ive the individual to engage in, and the community to overlook, suicide bombing. Indeed, as Hassan notes, articipating in suicide bombing can fulfill a range of meanings from the â€Å"personal to communal. † Without understanding these motivations and addressing them, it would appear the governments or organizations that seek to end suicide bombings are likely to be disappointed. Humiliation, revenge and altruism play a key role at the organizational and individual levels in shaping the sub-culture that promotes suicide bombings. Humiliation is an emotional process that seeks to discipline the target party’s behavior by attacking and lowering their own and others’ opinions of whether they deserve respect.Revenge is also a response to the continuous suffering of an aggrieved community. At the heart of the whole process are perceptions of personal harm, unfairness and injustice, and the anger, indignation, and hatred associated with such perceptions. The motivati on for jihad is almost always . . . the dilemma of the humiliated Muslim nation, victimized by the joint evil forces of kufr (unbelief, embodied by the United States as the enemy bent on the destruction of Islam) and tawaghit (tyrants who have set themselves up, or are propped up, as gods on earth).Although Americans tend to think of suicide bombers as â€Å"individual people taking individual decisions to kill people† says Timothy Spengler, they usually operate as members of highly structured terrorist groups. For bombers-in-training, feelings of shame and humiliation—even their individual identities—are replaced by identification with the group, as psychiatrist Vamik Volkan explains: â€Å"In normal life, a person who wants to kill themself has low self-esteem. For the suicide bombers it was the opposite—by killing yourself, you gain self-esteem.These were people with cracks in their personality that could be filled up, as if with cement, with the larg e group identity. So their individuality was erased. † Once recruits have identified with a terrorist group, they are willing to do anything asked by the group and take extreme risks because they feel invincible. Their individual motives and values are replaced by the motives and values of the terrorist group, and disagreement or questioning of the group’s norms is not encouraged.Men attach more value to vengeance than women; and young people are more prepared to act in a vengeful manner than older individuals. It is not surprising, then, to find that most suicide bombers are both young and male. The key to understanding suicide bombers, then, is to understand the organizations and groups that recruit and train them to be the people you know them as. Understanding the terrorist organization’s logic is more important than understanding individual motivations in explaining suicide attacks.Suicide bombings have high symbolic value because the willingness of the comm itters to die signals high resolve and dedication to their cause. They serve as symbols of a just struggle, stimulate popular support, generate financial support for the organization and become a source of new recruits for future suicide missions. As Cronin concludes, â€Å"Although . . . individual suicide attackers . . . are not technically ‘crazy,’ . . . they are often manipulated by the pressures and belief structures of the group†. The causes of suicide bombings lie not in individual psychopathology but in broader social conditions.Understanding and knowledge of these conditions is vital for developing appropriate public policies and responses to protect the public. Suicide bombings are carried out by motivated individuals associated with community based organizations. Strategies aimed at finding ways to induce communities to abandon such support would curtail support for terrorist organizations. Strategies for eliminating or at least addressing collective g rievances in concrete and effective ways would have a significant, and, in many cases, immediate impact on easing the conditions that nurture the subcultures of suicide bombings.Support for suicide bombing attacks is unlikely to diminish without tangible progress in achieving at least some of the fundamental goals that suicide bombers and those sponsoring and supporting them share. The most important choice a suicide attacker makes is not when to press the trigger, but whether or not to join a terrorist group. (figure 2) Figure1 [pic] Figure 2 References Altman, N. (2005, March/April). On the psychology of suicide bombing. Tikkun, 20(2). Retrieved November 20 2012, from Academic Search Elite database. Atran, S. (2004, Summer).Mishandling suicide terrorism. The Washington Quarterly, 27(3), 67–90. Retrieved November 20 from the Center for Strategic and International Studies Web site: www. twq. com/04summer/docs/04summer_atran. pdf Cronin, A. K. (2003, August 28). Terrorists and suicide attacks. CRS Report RL32058. Washington, D. C. : Congressional Research Service. Retrieved November 21, 2012, from Federation of American Scientists Web site: www. fas. org/irp/crs/RL32058. pdf Evans, E. (2005, Spring). The mind of a terrorist: How terrorists see strategy and morality.World Affairs, 167(4), 175–179. Haqqani, H. , & Kimmage, D. (2005, October 3). Suicidology: The online bios of Iraq’s â€Å"martyrs. † New Republic, 233(14), 14–16. Retrieved November 21 2012, from Academic Search Elite database. Hudson, R. A. (1999, September) The sociology and psychology of terrorism: Who becomes a terrorist and why? Retrieved November 22 2012, from Library of Congress Web site: http://www. loc. gov/rr/frd/pdf-files/Soc_Psych_of_Terrorism. pdf McConnell, S. (2005, July 18). The logic of suicide terrorism [interview with Robert Pape]. The American Conservative.Retrieved November 22 2012, from http://amconmag. com/2005_07_18/article. html Solow, B. (2004, May 26). The â€Å"patient is regressing†: A distinguished psychiatrist visits the Triangle to lecture on the mindset of the U. S. war on terror. Independent Weekly. Retrieved November 22 2012, from http://www. indyweek. com/durham/2004-05-26/election. html Volkan, V. D. (n. d. ) Suicide bombers. Retrieved November 22 2012, from http://www. healthsystem. virginia. edu/internet/csmhi/suicide-bomber-psychology. pdf ———————– Anthony Leach 11/22/12 D’Amato College writing

The relation between IM, Information Security and HRM Essay

The relation between IM, Information Security and HRM - Essay Example Software assurance is another aspect of information security. Software vulnerabilities can jeopardize intellectual property, consumer trust, business operations and services, thus the use of any software by the organization has to be in conjunction with the information security department, and these among others are some of the key roles information security plays in the safeguard of information in the Human resource departments. The paper also emphasizes the involvement of the top management in making information security an important part of the organization culture, need to establish a clear and effective information security policy and guidelines for employees. The absence of information security measures not only lead to theft, but the organization could suffer damage with minimal legal redress against the individuals concerned. In the end the paper discusses the need for an accurate measurement system and a continuous improvement policy to ensure the organization is abreast wit h the dynamic nature of the issue and is prepared to meet newer security concerns. Introduction Information management is a very vast concept; it includes a cycle of processes that supports firm’s learning activity by identifying, organizing, storing, processing and acquiring information (Choo, 1995). Information is one the most fundamental resources of an organization, one that needs to be managed like any other resource, like plant, equipment or people. Â  Forward-looking companies consider information as a strategic asset that can be leveraged into a competitive advantage in the markets served by the company (Karim & Hussein, 2008). Information, being such an important resource in an organization,... The paper affirm that the value of a firm’s investment in information security can be measured by examining the stock market investor’s behaviours towards firms IT security investment announcements. In examining the current business environment and the risks associated with it, it is important to include the role of Internet. The internet is one of the most critical infrastructures of a modern business. Firms have to take into account the broader picture when it comes to information security. Management of information in an effective manner is the only way to secure information. Board involvement is an absolutely critical issue and the top management should always play an active role in the formulation of the information security policy. Most of the times, the board members are not up to speed with the technology systems being used in the organization and what kind of attacks the company is vulnerable to. The board needs to be updated on the information security systems at least on a quarterly basis so that adequate measures can be taken to upgrade the systems, with the fast changing technologies; it has become imperative to remain in constant touch with the risks that the changing technological environment possesses. Comprehensive information security policies are well written, responsibilities are assigned and roles well outlined. Human resource department is responsible for managing human capital of an organization.

THE YIELD CURVE AND THE ECONOMIC INDICATION Essay

THE YIELD CURVE AND THE ECONOMIC INDICATION - Essay Example The paper goes ahead to examine the yield curve of the USA and the Australia. This paper is divided into two sections. Section a answers the task one and section be answers task two. Section A Introduction The economic analysis in the international world has been witnessing many fluctuations and changes over the years. To access and analyze and even predict these economic fluctuations and changes, economics have been put to task on coming up with the techniques of making economic predictions. Interest rates are factored in as one of the indicators of economic changes globally. They can therefore be for a short term and for long term as well. These interest rates changes give a good prediction on future market trend for instance a three year borrowing of a company which will be influenced by the central bank rates of borrowing and therefore being necessary to analyze the interest rates to see their input into the economy whether positively or negatively. These interest rates basically have a very significant effect on any company or industry economically. The interest rates are never constant and these changes fluctuate from the short term interest rates to the long term interest rates. These changes are well explained in the yield curve. The yield curve is the best indicator of economic activities and it is therefore necessary to have better understanding of this for the benefit of explaining the economic trend. In this paper therefore I will give a critical look at the Yield curve and as well the different types of yield curves and their effect on the economy globally. Yield curve The simplest way to define interest rate is that it is the amount charged on the money borrowed. This comes in form of rates and the maturity amount. The rate is the timely amount given before the actual payment as per the agreement of the borrower and the bank. The maturity amount is the total amount paid after the period given for the repayment of the l oan elapses. The yield curve is the representation of the interest that is representation of the long term and short term interest rates. It’s used to refer to the maturity of borrowings in the banking sector. This curve is plotted by using the interest rates and the maturity period. This curve provides a very crucial basis for the governments to evaluate their economies. It is very basic for the determination of the current and future economic status of a particular economy. It is used for the determining of many financial derivatives like lending rate and mortgages for borrowers. The analysis of the economy of a country will requires the inclusion of the yield curve so as to make it all conclusive. Types of yield curves There are various types of yield curve and it is worth looking at each of these 1. Upward sloping yield curve, This type of a curve is mostly used to show the inflation in the economy. It shows that there is a probability of inflation rising over the followi ng years. It can also

Designing Networking (WAN) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Designing Networking (WAN) - Essay Example To transfer a 972.222kb data in less than two minutes we can have an Internet connection which has an upload speed of 32kbps. If we take 256 kbps of access speed connectivity then down load would be 256 divided by 4 and upload would be 256 divided by 8. These are standard calculation to choose an Internet connection. If continuous connectivity is required then we can choose DSL connectivity or else a dial up connectivity would be sufficient. A 256kbps dial up connectivity can upload 32 kb per second that is equal to 1920 kb per minute which is 3840kb i.e 3.75mb for two minutes which exceeds our requirement. This type of connectivity is ideal for Fargo to Denver. For a link to this configuration we need a DS3 dedicated link which can support a 45mb per second. This is the most ideal line type for the given data transfer. To have a DS3 link we need to have a multiplexer, router and a switch. Switch = Cisco catalyst 4605 which can support more than 200 users. A 45 mbps dedicated link would be the cheapest and reliable line type from Minneapolis to Denver which does not need an Internet connection. This connectivity is called a tie line. The same can be used for even voice connectivity from Denver to Minneapolis. For the St.Louis to Denver connectivity a 256 kpbs dial up connectivity would be an ideal line type. Since only a 100 kbps data transfer is needed. Dial up is advised since the connectivity needed is intermittent. The Nortel multiplexer is connected to a Cisco router and from there a Cisco switch is connected. From the switch we can many interfaces. Fargo and St.Louis connect to the main office through Internet. Only Minneapolis connect to Denver using a DS3 45 MBPS dedicated link. Nortel 7480 multiplexer WAN diagram showing four location connectivity Data transfer calculations for St.Louis. 100kb = 100/1024 = 0.09mb. a 256 kbps dial up would far exceed the 100 kbps requirement. Reference Development Gateway. (2006) Information and Communication Technologies for Development. [online]. Available from: http://topics.developmentgateway.org/ict. [Accessed 6 Dec. 2006]. Frost. (2006) Growth Partnership Service: Information and Communication Technologies. [online]. Available from: http://www.frost.com/prod/servlet/svcg.pag/IT00. [Accessed 6 Dec. 2006]. Chumbley, Lloyd. (n.d.) E-technology. [online]. Available from: http://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/61504.html. [Accessed 6 Dec.

Bitts case study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Bitts case study - Essay Example A lack of motivation will make employees lethargic and careless while a presence of motivation will present them as energetic and full of verve. Responsibilities: While every individual connected to a company or organization has certain benefits which s/he derives from working for the company, there is also a set of responsibilities which the individual has towards the company. Responsibilities change depending on how and where a person is placed within a company but certain responsibilities like loyalty, following company norms and going by the rules of the company are expected to be followed by all members connected to the company. Theory X and Theory Y: These are two management styles which were given by Douglas McGregor as a part of his discourse on management. Theory X of management assumes that people dislike work and must be controlled by strong means if they are to remain productive. Further, people need direction and not independence while they work. Theory Y is the complete opposite of this since it suggests that people are naturally inclined towards work as they are towards play and rest. Additionally, people find satisfaction in work and will use imagination, creativity and their personal skills to solve work related problems if they are allowed to work as they please (NetMBA, 2005). There are several problems which are being faced by Bitts of which the primary problems are said to be; the lack of communications between directors, the management style being followed, the coming changes in the company/industry, and the HR related problems of the company. With effective communications and following the correct decisions outlined in the recommendations section, the company and the directors can expect to pull out of the spot they are in presently. Of the recommendations, the first is a change of style closer to Theory Y, the

Implementing a GIS System and GPS training in rural Belize Research Paper

Implementing a GIS System and GPS training in rural Belize - Research Paper Example The area is least developed and it consists of some of the most attractive tourists sites including cave networks, a wide range of cultures including that of the early civilization Maya and beautiful lowland plains. Fishing is also a key economic activity in the region and fishermen normally make use of their traditional dugout canoes for fly fishing and catching seasonal lobsters. Besides tourism and fishing, the Toledo District also gains its prominence from small scale agriculture due to the influence of the settlers from the US Confederate who introduced farming in the region. The economy in Toledo thus heavily relies on agriculture to ensure that the local people earn a living. Some of the crops that are popular among the farmers in Toledo include corn and beans. The farmers from the region also produce rice in large scale which is usually auctioned at the District’s Big Falls Rice Mill. The Toledo Cacao Association is similarly responsible for marketing the cacao product which is normally farmed organically. The most popular output that results from the cacao value addition chain is the Maya Gold chocolate brand. Cacao is such a popular crop in the Belize District and it’s celebrated during in a chocolate festival during the Toledo Cacao Festival. Besides rice, corn, beans and cacao, the farmers in Belize also grow additional crops such as hot peppers, chili, sweet potato, yams, coffee, plantain and oranges. Just like it is the norm in variant rural districts in southern and Central America, Toledo has reserved market days at its capital P unta Gorda where the farm produce is sold. The market days include Saturday, Friday, Wednesday and Monday. Agriculture and transportation are complementary in nature and it is imperative to also identify ways through which the GIP and GPS technologies can be used to further enhance the complementary nature of the two economic activities. Complementarity in agriculture and

Crowdsourcing Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words - 2

Crowdsourcing - Term Paper Example The paper will further offer solutions concerning generating design interest from online communities and evaluation of skill set and quality of codes submitted by potential unknown users. Lastly, legal, societal and ethical issues related to outsourcing will be discussed, and possible recommendations offered to the solutions. With the invention and growth of outsourcing, online communities have introduced attractive human-like platforms that directly conduct experiments with the aim of controlling over participants and the environment. This concept operates on the notion of tapping as much knowledge and intelligence as possible from the public to complete complex business-related tasks that would require hiring of third parties or outsourcing. The same sentiments are echoed by Brabham, (2010) who defines crowdsourcing as an ‘online distributed problem solving and production model largely used for business† (para.1). The collective intelligence of the online community is controlled through soliciting of organizational ideas and solutions from such communities through models of open calls. Thus, successive crowdsourcing operates on the assumption of ‘collective intelligence’ and ‘crowd wisdom’. According to Nakatsu and Grossman (2013), the process of crowdsourcing involve individuals / organizations who request and identify problems to be solved or tasks to be performed, broadcasting tasks online by requestors in order to get attention of the online crowds to perform tasks and/or solve already identified problems, and the submission of solutions to the problems by the targeted crowd. After receiving solutions, the requestor carefully examines solutions into meaningful ways especially in cases where there are numerous responses (Allahbakhsh et al., 2013). Crowdsourcing offers a channel through which human computation is utilized as a substitute to solve complex problems that are

Corporate Social Responsibility of Qantas Airline Case Study

Corporate Social Responsibility of Qantas Airline - Case Study Example This research tells that Corporate Social Responsibility aligns the corporate actions and activities to the government law and ensure the business model is ethical. The goal of Corporate Social Responsibility is to embrace responsibility for the company's actions and to encourage the positive impacts through its activities on the environment, consumers, employees, communities, and stakeholders. This report will analyze the implemented CSR policies of Qantas Airways and assess their effectiveness to determine whether the practice has helped the organization in achieving its goals and objective. According to Qantas Airway Limited Website, Qantas was established in 1920by Paul McGuiness, Hudson Fysh, Fergus McMaster and Arthur Baird. After almost 91 years of growing and developing, Qantas nowadays is widely regarded as the world's leading long distance airline and one of the strongest brands in Australia. It employs approximately 32,500 employees and offers services across a network spa nning 182 destinations over 44 countries. The main business of Qantas is the transportation of passengers, with two main brands, Qantas and Jetstar; operate the total passenger fleet of 252 aircraft. For the full year ended 30 June 2010, Qantas reported underlying profit before tax of $377 million. Net Profits after tax was $116 million. In Qantas, there is a corporate governance framework that works under the Safety, Health, and Environment Security Committee (SESC). This is a board of oversight that was introduced in 1994 is found at Qantas.com. Currently, the board has six members with each having his or her rank. There is the chief executive officer of the board and five independent non-executive officers. The board has laid down a charter that is available on their website. The charter talks more of their objectives, visions, and missions. The SESC has its objectives that are all aimed at assisting the board in performance; the SESC also assists the board on issues concerning s afety, health, security matters, and the environment. They aim at making the working environment to be conducive to working. The SESC also deals with risk management, which in any business, is one of the areas that require a lot of concentration. A good process of risk management should be laid down and then implemented to point. Apart from the working of the audit committee, SESC also works in a way to ensure that there are credibility and transparency. SESC holds meetings regularly from where it sets objectives of achieving the latter objectives and there are some qualifications that members of SESC must meet before joining. All this is meant to ensure that the performance of SESC is done to perfection, and with practiced ease.

Business plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 5

Business plan - Essay Example The market comprises of three main competitors, such as Abuja constructors, Oga building Limited and Okonwkwo Fabricators. The two minor competitors are Okocha Limited and Dibanj Holders limited. The strength of the main competitors is their long working hours, nearness to consumers and their reputation. However, most customers complain that the main competitors lack client courtesy and good communication skills. It is also apparent that they charge high prices for their products, which make consumers to order them from other suppliers outside the region. In order to capture the market, our firm will introduce cheaper prices to counter the pricing strategies of the main competitors. The other strategy is to embark on an aggressive publicity, comprising of adverts in local radio stations and investment magazines. The sales forecast will be directed towards the target market to ensure that the budget caters for all the costs in the startup plan. The action plan is to coordinate all departments to segment the market for possible purchase of the Granite

Patton Fuller Financial Statements Essay Example for Free

Patton Fuller Financial Statements Essay Financial statements hold a great deal of information on them and there are many things to consider when reviewing them. A financial statement can be audited or unaudited which vary in expense information. There are effects of revenue sources to consider and businesses have a different revenue every year. They can either be close in dollar amount or could vary significantly. The financial goal to how much revenue a business wants to make should be set in order to plan and control for expenses that the business must pay for in case of emergencies. Financial statements are very detailed and are well informative of the financial status of a business. Audited Versus Unaudited In the Patton-Fuller revenue and expense statement report, the audited or unaudited financial statements vary in their particular expense information. A considerable reduction in the analysis of income is the fundamental procurement of every doubtful account. The distinct term refers to fixed number of accounts receivable that will eventually become bad debt or standardized as unvaluable funds. A statement furnished concerning all third party reports shall always demonstrate the distribution of doubtful accounts noteworthy as an expenditure (Baker Baker, 2011). Management of the doubtful accounts have a million dollar increase particularly on the audited statement report in comparison to the unaudited report. All the allotments in the calculated amounts vary within the net income and operating income from signifying a profit that undoubtedly shows a loss. An audited balance statement affirms an amount of one million dollars that is reduced in revenue corresponding with the unaudited report on the present profit listed that relates to patient balance due.

Is Community Policing Effective?

Is Community Policing Effective? AN ANALYSIS OF COMMUNITY POLICING: IS COMMUNITY POLICING AN EFFECTIVE PRACTICE? ABSTRACT Community Policing is a relatively new policing practice that focuses on reducing the crime rate in an area by creating cooperation and trust between citizens and police. The question that comes into play regarding this is whether or not community policing is an effective practice. To answer this question, a study will be conducted where community policing is implemented in a big city for a span of 2 years. All of the citizens and police officers of all ages and both sex’s will be the research participants. Data will be collected by comparing the crime rates from the beginning of the study to the end of the study, along with comparison between the data every 2 months as well. The results will be analyzed by looking at whether or not there were any changes in the crime rates as well as the amount of cooperation by citizens. If there was a decrease in the crime rate then that will determine that community policing is in fact an effective community policing practice that is worth its extra cost. TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION LITERATURE REVIEW STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM METHODOLOGY AND ANALYSIS DISCUSSION CONCLUSION REFERENCES INTRODUCTION The criminal Justice field is currently in a time where new and innovative policing practices are being used in police departments across America. One of these practices being implemented nationwide is community policing. Community policing spans a broad range of programs from neighborhood newsletters and neighborhood substations to foot patrol and neighborhood watch (Welsburd, Lum, 2013). Community Policing’s main focus is to create stronger alliances between police and the community. The goals of community policing are to help reduce citizen fear of crime, improve police-community relations, facilitate more effective responses to community problems, and lower the overall amount of crimes committed (â€Å"Community Policing,† n.d., para. 1). When evaluating the community policing practices there is always the question of whether or not the practice is effective and should continue to be implemented in police departments. Community Policing is an effective practice that is supported by different studies and statistics that have been conducted and released regarding this police practice. (Telep, Weisburd, 2011) The effectiveness of community policing is measured by examining a collection of strategies that are implemented in the practice. (Owusu-Bempah, 2010) Community Policing practices has had great results in cities such as Chicago where the practice has been implemented in several neighborhoods (Eig, 2002). By determining the effectiveness of community policing it determines whether or not this practice is worth being implemented by police departments throughout America. LITERATURE REVIEW Welsburd and Lum (2013) describe how Charlotte Gill and colleagues conducted a study on the impact of community policing. The study showed how community policing led to significant positive benefits for citizen satisfaction, perceived disorder, and police legitimacy. In the end of the article Bennett and colleagues looked at the effectiveness of neighborhood watch programs, which is related to community policing. They found that a neighborhood watch program does in fact lead to a substantial â€Å"crime reduction.† (Para. 10) These authors focus more on the positive aspects of community policing and do not describe much in the way of negatives regarding this policing practice. Community policing involves strengthening the relationship between police officers and citizens in the community. â€Å"Community Policing† (n.d) describes how Goldstein describes that officers working closely with members in the community have greater independence with making decisions, have positive feelings toward citizens, and have greater job satisfaction. One survey conducted on patrol officers showed 98 percent of officers agreed that â€Å"assisting citizens† is just as essential as â€Å"enforcing law.† (Para. 6) The authors focused on describing officer opinion on community policing and positive affects it has had. Community Service is an essential aspect of community policing that strengthens Citizens Corporation and trust. â€Å"The Bureau of Justice Statistics† (n.d) describes how Offering youth education and coordinating community outreach efforts are effective methods in community policing that have been utilized. The study focused on implementing a greater use of foot and bicycle patrols and frequent meetings with community groups. The LEMAS survey conducted in 2003 revealed 58% of all departments, employing 82% of officers, and utilized full-time community policing officers during 2003. All Together, there were about 54,800 local police officers assigned as community police officers. These authors provide data on how community policing is becoming a more widespread policing practice due to its effectiveness. Community Policing has proved to be effective in communities throughout America such as Chicago. Jonathon Eig (2002) describes the community policing practice in Chicago which focuses on more than just foot patrols. Citizens form a positive relationship with police officers which make them believe they have a role in solving the neighborhoods problems. The study describes how in Chicago when a suspect resisted arrest and began punching the officer, neighborhood gang members rushed to her defense and helped subdue the man. (2002) after the implementation of community policing Chicago communities have experienced falling crime rates and a growing sense of safety in many neighborhoods. Fayetteville Minneapolis implemented a community policing strategy to reduce violent crime plaguing the city. Greg Barnes (2014) describes that violent crime among juveniles has fallen dramatically after using community policing. The study showed from 2006 to 2012 gun crimes involving youth dropped by 57 percent and gun crimes dropped by 67 percent. Youths were 39 percent less likely to be shot and 60 percent less likely to be murdered. Fayetteville Police departments hired more police officers to patrol streets and the department upgraded crime-fighting-technology. The study stated that in 2013 there were about 600 fewer home breaks ins. Fayetteville shows how community policing is effective at reducing crime and violence in the community. Community policing is implemented to help curb the rise in violence throughout communities. Akwasi Owusu-Bempah (2010) describes how officers must be actively engaged in efforts to enhance the community safety themselves while using assistance from citizens. Through knowledge-sharing with members of the community, patrol officers become most knowledgeable about the needs and strengths of their communities. The study showed during the six years after the project began (from 1995 through 2000) the number of homicides in Atlanta decreased by 27 per cent. The author describes the positives of community policing and the data that supports this. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM Authors have stated that Community Policing is a relatively new practice in law enforcement that involves a variety of programs which can vary depending on the police department. ( Telep, Weisburd, 2011; â€Å"Community Policing,† n.d., para. 1; Welsburd, Lum, 2013; Owusu-Bempah, 2010) However there is a limited amount of data that determine if community policing practice is worth for departments to utilize. This means it is unclear whether community policing is an effective practice in regards to reducing crime. METHODOLOGY AND ANALYSIS The methodology is broken down into separate main focuses, the research participants, research design, and the procedure. The research that will be conducted is study of how a community policing program is an effective policing practice. The study will involve implementing a community policing program in a high crime city and seeing what effect it has over a 2 year span. The study’s participants will be split up into two separate groups. The first group will be composed of any citizen living in the city that has implemented a community policing policy. The city for this study is in New Haven Connecticut, which means everyone living in the city limits of New Haven will be the research participants. Their demographic will involve citizens of all ages and both male and females. The second group is composed of all the New Haven police officers assigned to areas throughout New Haven where they will utilize a community policing strategy. Their demographic will involve police officers of all ages and both male and female officers. My design/procedure involves experimentation which will show if community policing is an effective practice. The experiment will involve implementing a community policing practice in New Haven for 2 years. The city will need to hire more officers to actively patrol one specific neighborhood their entire shift. To determine if the practice was successful it will be measured by, whether or not the crime rate decreased with a community policing practice in place. The initial crime rate will be determined by the numbers of various major crimes committed the year before community policing was implemented such as murders, homicides, robbery’s, larceny’s, assaults, and grand theft auto. Next the study will involve increasing the number of cops on patrol and their interaction with citizens in the specific areas they are assigned too. Things that will be measured are whether or not corporation between police and citizens of the city has gone up. Another aspect measured is the ri se in annual police department costs since the community policing practice was put into place. Lastly to measure the practices success during the 2 year span you compare the number of crimes committed every 2 months throughout the duration of the study. Then once the two years is finally done compare the number of crimes that occurred before the start of the study to the number of crimes that occurred at the end of the study to see if the policing practice was in fact effective. For community policing to be deemed effective the data compared will show a drop in the crime rate. Lastly effectiveness will also be based on the cost of the practice compared to the results of the implementation of community policing. DISCUSSION Law enforcement agencies throughout the country are always looking for a solution to lower the rise in number of crimes committed. In the past law enforcement typically involved a disconnect between citizen’s and police officers. However with new policing practices like community policing the disconnect is able to be reduced by police advocating cooperation between citizens and police. Citizens are given the opportunity to be directly involved with keeping their own neighborhood safe by working with police by providing information such as witness statements and possible leads. This also leads to police getting to know people in the community on a personal level and for citizens to view a cop as more than just a person with a badge and a gun. What this means is that community policing provides reasons for citizens to speak with police which will help deter criminals from committing crimes due to knowing that witnesses will cooperate. The importance of the study conducted is that it allows for other police departments to determine whether community policing might work well in their city. There is also a chance for departments already implementing the practice to determine whether they should continue or discontinue community policing. Implementing community policing comes at a rather high cost due to an increase in officers on patrol at once. By the study only being two years long it allows for a city to see first-hand results of the policing practice which will help determine if the effect on the crime rate outweighs the extra costs. Similar studies to this one have shown results that provide support for community policing being an effective policing practice. Chicago is a city that has already implemented community policing in their neighborhoods. One major is that the Chicago study involves community policing in specific neighborhoods with the most crime and poverty which is different from how the New Haven study involves the entire city. In the Chicago study neighborhoods saw a decrease in crimes especially those involved with drugs and gang violence. There was also increased police and citizen cooperation which led to citizens sharing a lot more valuable information to the police, due to how the police showed citizens they were in the community to help them keep the neighborhoods they live in safer. The Chicago study is able to provide support of how community policing will be able to help with reducing the similar issues of gang violence and drug related violence in New Haven which has in recent years seen a major rise in these issues. Even though the study in New Haven shows effective results there are limitations and problems that could possibly occur. A limitation is that realistically not all officers will be able to get citizens in their patrol area to cooperate with them. If this is the case the question that arises is whether it’s worth the extra costs to continue with community policing in the neighborhood for the full duration of the study. Also with a study over a 2 year span a lot can change, if an officer assigned to a neighborhood has to leave midway through the study, could lead to citizens no longer cooperating with the newly assigned officer in the same way they did with the prior officer. In order for the experiment to have validity it would require that every neighborhood has the same officer patrolling it the entire 2 yearlong study which is unrealistic in a large city like New Haven. The last possible problem is that community policing involves a variety of programs which means programs t hat led to successful a community policing outcome in one city might not have the same results in another city. CONCLUSION Community policing is one of the most recent law enforcement innovations with recent research suggesting that close to 100 percent of larger police agencies have implemented this practice. (Welsburd, Lum, 2013) The problem regarding community policing is determining whether or not it can be called an effective policing practice. The overall goals associated with this practice are fear reduction, increased citizen satisfaction with police, and the development of techniques which address the issues in the community. Community Policing’s overall concern is to create stronger alliances between police and the community which are a major factor in seeing crime rates in an area decrease. (â€Å"Community Policing,† n.d., para. 1). (Quire, 1993) While community policing has its benefits there are also some issues with it such as the rise in police spending and an increased need for more officers on patrol at the same time. In the end the New Haven community policing study is ju st one of the many studies that provide support that it is in fact an effective policing practice. REFERENCES Welsburd, David, and Cynthia Lum. Community Policing and Procedural Justice.Center for EvidenceBased Crime Policy. 1 Jan. 2013. Web. 4 Dec. 2014. http://cebcp.org/evidence-based-policing/what-works-in-policing/research- evidence-review/community-policing/ Police: Community Policing The Theory And Practice Of Community Policing. Officers, Crime, Local, and Neighborhood. Web. 27 Nov. 2014. http://law.jrank.org/pages/1650/Police-Community-Policing-theory-practice- community-policing.html Telep, Cody, and David Weisburd. What Is Known about the Effectiveness of Police Practices? 1 Sept. 2011. Web. 4 Dec. 2014. http://www.jjay.cuny.edu/Telep_Weisburd.pdf Eig, Jonathan. Eyes on the Street: Community Policing in Chicago.The American Prospect. 17 May 2002. Web. 4 Dec. 2014. http://prospect.org/article/eyes-street- community-policing-chicago Owusu-Bempah, Akwasi. Review of the Roots of Youth Violence: Literature Reviews. Community Policing Strategie. 27 Apr. 2010. Web. 4 Dec. 2014. http://www.children.gov.on.ca/htdocs/English/topics/youthandthelaw/roots/volu me5/preventing03_community_polcing.aspx Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS).Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). Web. 4 Dec. 2014. http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=tptid=81 Barnes, Greg. Seeking Safety: A Blueprint for Reducing Youth Crime That Works :: WRAL.com.WRAL.com. 26 Oct. 2014. Web. 4 Dec. 2014. http://www.wral.com/seeking-safety-a-blueprint-for-reducing-youth-crime-that- works/14117413/ Quire, Donald. Models for Community Policing Evaluation: The St. Petersburg Experience. 1 Jan. 1993. Web. 4 Dec. 2014. https://www.fdle.state.fl.us/Content/getdoc/50e19742-07dd-4813-a850- 3248a9db71b5/Quire.aspx

History Of The Fertile Crescent History Essay

History Of The Fertile Crescent History Essay The Fertile Crescent has been called the Cradle of Civilization for many years. The Cradle of Civilization is the key to understanding when the human population began to thirve and create vilages, cities, and ultimantly states. With out the domestication and cultivation of the land there would have never been enough food to support such a dence population of people. Hunting and collecting entirely from the wild could not possibly support even a tiny fraction of the worlds current population (Bellwood, 1). There were seven core domesticates in the Fertile Crescent, they include sheep, goats, pigs, cattle, emmer wheat, einkorn wheat and barley. All of these species were domesticated and had an important role in the Fertile Crescent throughout the two millennia emergence of agrarian societies between 10000 and 8000 B.P. We can best understand the events of this period by first focusing on the developmental history of the individual species of plants and animals that were brought under d omestication, and then combining those individual histories into the more complex overall story in the emergence of the agriculture in the region (Smith, 51). The story of the Fertile Crescent starts much before the emergence of the hunter- gatherers were raviging the forests and grass lands. By 10000 B.P. the beginning of the 2000 year period that would witness the development of agriculture, human societies had taken advantage of the post-Pleistocene proliferation of plant and animal resources, and the fertile crescent was inhabited by a diverse array of hunter-gatherer societies (Smith, 51). The Pleistocene era had ended with a much warmer climate that also brought a much moister climate to the area. This climate change was one that favored the wild annual cereal grasses (Sagan, 249). Also it allowed the sparse movement of hunter-gatherer groups to move in to the area. It was there that they discovered that a more sedentary lifestyle produced more of a greater surplus of food and than that of foraging. The Fertile Crescents environmental zones are keys to understanding the development of the domestications of the plants and animals. There are three main environmental zones involved in the origin of cultivation in the Fertile Crescent. The eastern section of which comprises the foothills and margins of the Zagros Mountains (Maisels 133). The central or the north is mostly made up of the broad rolling grasslands. Lastly, the western section whose central axis is the important Levantine corridor and Jordan Valley (Smith, 51). While deliberate cultivation eventually became most intensely practiced on the alluvial plain of Mesopotamia, it did not start there because the climate was too dry, thus requiring irrigation. In the central section, habitual harvesting of wild grains did occur, and it is suggested that this abundance led to the first sedentary villages dependent on harvesting wild grains. Ali Kosh a village occupied around 9000 B.P.; herded goats, intensively collected various w ild plants, and harvested wild wheat. Deliberate cultivation most likely came in response to documented climatic changes, which led inhabitants on the fringe of the hilly flanks to artificially duplicate the dense stands of wheat and barley that grew in the hilly flanks (Sagan, 237). There were many changes that occurred due to the cultivation of a plant or animal. These changes were many times become genetic due to the consistent selection of the more adequately produced products. In wild grains, the axis or rachis is brittle, which allows the grain to reseed itself easily. Selection of the grains was at first an accidental by-product of harvesting, and later intentionally, the people selected grains in which the axis was tougher, allowing less grain to fall to the ground, thus raising yields (Sagan 247). They also selected plants that were more easily husked. The people used the same natural selection process when choosing livestock. They selected woolly animals from among wild sheep, who are not normally woolly, thus acquiring sheep better suited to lowland heat and from which to obtain wool. Fossil remains indicate that domestication of sheep and goats was accompanied by a decrease in the size of the animal. The animals domesticated in the Fertile Crescent were key to the development of the humans in the area. The readily available source of meat aided in the functions of the brain, which led to the ability to think more complexly and creatively. The brain is fueled by protein therefore with more protein in the diet the mind began to develop more completely. Thus the importance of the domestication of the animals to the human race, with out having to hunt for the meat they were getting a more readily available source of protein (Wilkinson 139). The Persian wild goat has been recognized as the ancestor to the first domesticated goat. The Persian wild goat tends to be found in the more rugged terrain. It is in the eastern section of the Fertile Crescent that we find the most evidence of goats being hunted for their meat. Specifically at the site of Ganj Dareh, which was excavated in 1970s, which found at the lowest level, which dates back to 9000 B.P. contained approximately 5000 identifiable goat bones (Old Goats). Brian Hesse of the University of Alabama at Birmingham studied these bones. Using new analytical techniques to try to piece together evidence of the domestication of goats. Hesse theorized that a domesticated herd should have two clear distinguishing characteristics: (1) a large percentage of animals slaughtered for meat late in their immaturity, when they had attained much of their adult size; (2) an adult breeding population in which females far outnumbered males(Smith, 60). Through complex measurements of the b ones discovered at Ganj Dareh, Hesse discovered that the males were being killed before they reached adult hood and the females overwhelmingly stood for most of the population. This stunning breakthrough specifies that an age and sex profile that closely agrees with that of a herd of domesticated goats managed to provide meat (Old Goats). Clear demographic evidence appears to indicate that goats were domesticated at Ganj Dareh as early as 9000 years ago. The increase of the proportions of goat bones among the animal remains is an indicator to the shift to goat herding. Wild Sheep were the second animal to be domesticated in the Fertile Crescent. The wild ancestor of domesticated sheep ranged throughout much of the Fertile Crescent. A large amount of evidence of wild sheep can be found in the central region (Sagon, 245). There is much data to indicate that the wild sheep was not an important prey in the areas of Levant. There is, however, evidence showing that the sheep were a prey in Jericho that date wild sheep back to 10000 to 9500 years ago (Wilkinson 149). The degree to which the hunter-gatherer societies in different parts of the Fertile Crescent relied on wild sheep for food parallels the animals abundance in their local environments 10000 to 8000 years ago. The wild sheep were most were most abundantly discovered in the central region. This is probably why around 8500 B.P. sheep were first domesticated in the central area of the Fertile Crescent. There, the land is better suited to the wild sheep thus they were a more common target for hunte rs in that area, leading to the domestication of the sheep. With the change from being wild to being domesticated, the sheep, according to the fossil record, got smaller due to the selection process of the humans tending to the animals. It is in the apex of the Fertile Crescent that sheep herding first became an important component of agricultural economies (Smith, 57). The pig was, as far as we know the third animal to be domesticated. Wild pigs were greatly hunted in the northern part of the central region. Facts have lead archeologist to date the bones of the wild pigs to 9000 B.P. The pigs continued to be a substantial part of the diet of the people in this northern area of the Fertile Crescent, even after the shift to the herding of sheep and goats (Sagan, 243). The site of Cayà ¶nà ¼ tends to be the marker for the earliest domesticated pig, in the vicinity of 8500 years ago. There have been some tentative theories that approximate the domestication of pigs to be closer to the date of 10000 B.P. (Smith, 67). It is Richard Redding who proposed this theory, that the bones of the pigs at Hallan Cemi, strongly represent the ages of bones of a possible herding community of pigs. However since we know nothing about the ages of the pigs that the hunters targeted we have no basis for making the claim that the pigs at Hallan Cemi were indeed domestica ted and herded. For now it remains unverified but the alluring prospect that pigs were domesticated much before the evidence now shows. Cattle were probably the last and least important of the four main animals that were domesticated in the Fertile Crescent. The ancestors of domesticate cattle were probably considered to be a dangerous pay due to the size of the animal. However, it was also a significantly large package of meat. The area in the Levant and Jordan Valley has dated wild cattle bones to approximately 9000 to 8000 years ago. Like the pigs the cattle had a exceptionally large geographical range and extended far beyond the Fertile Crescent. There have been clear documentation of a pattern that shows the reduction of size in the cattle between 8000 and 7000 B.P. While cattle may show to be of little importance to the region between 10000 and 8000 B.P. it later became the dominant species of the market (Smith, 56). Now that we have looked at the individual histories of the animals of the seven core domesticates of the Fertile Crescent we see many patterns are emerging. The four species share common lines of evidence that include; geographical range, increase in abundance, reduction in size and change in age/sex profiles (Smith, 67). This evidence has lead to the indication that these histories were distinct and still follows the same indication of domestication. The goats were domesticated in the earliest portion of the period, at around 9000 B.P. Then the sheep, pigs and cattle soon followed after approximately 300 years after the domestication of the goats. Now that we have explored the four animals that were domesticated in the Fertile Crescent we must now turn to vegetation that grew and was domesticated in the Cradle of Civilization around the same time the animals were being domesticated. With the more sedentary lifestyle that the people of this time were adapting to they must have turned to the land and noticed that the annual growing cycle of the plants could help them support them selves without having to harvest the wild plants. They realized that the plants could be grown to fit their needs. There were about eight species of plants that were domesticated during this time (Smith, 48). However, only three of those eight show enough evidence to be mentioned, those three are emmer wheat, einkorn wheat and barley. These three plants were developed in to crops that become overwhelmingly important to the societies that thrived during this time. The first domesticated plant was emmer wheat. Wild emmer wheat was confined in the Fertile Crescent and grew in the areas of Levant, where it was domesticated. As emmer was domesticated, the shape and size of the grain changed, as did the structure of the rachis, the miniature stem that attaches the grain to the plant (Smith, 68). The grains became heftier and the stems became and sturdier. With the grains being more fruitful and staying on the plant longer it aloud more of the grains to be harvested and less of them lost. The morphological changes indicate that the emmer was domesticated. One of the first sites to show the domesticated emmer was the site of Jericho. The grains were found to be from approximately 9800 to 9500 B.P. or perhaps earlier. The large grains of wheat with the nonbrittle rachises, the stem that connects the grain to the plant, appeared around the same time in the lower levels at the site of Aswad, near Damascus (Smith, 68). It didnt take long for the domestic ated Wheat to spread throughout the entire Fertile Crescent. By approximately 8000 B.P. the entire area was producing signs of domesticated emmer wheat. Wild einkorn wheat was the next to be plant to be domesticated. The einkorn wheat was actually harvested by the hunter-gatherers before it was domesticated and intentionally grown. The grain is practically absent from the sites in the Levant, however it occurred in grossly high amounts in the areas of the Mesopotamia and the Anatolia, however the most important sites for the domestication of this wheat were in the central part of the Crescent, at sites such as Mureybit and Abu Hureyra. It is Abu Hureyra that holds the most data for the domestication of einkorn (Smith, 68). When it was excavated in the early 1970s, Gordon Hillman and his colleagues at the Institute of Archaeology of University College, conducted a large scale flotation recovery program that provided them with an exceptionally large and diverse assemblage of charred plant remains. Painstakingly analyzing the all 712 samples recovered, each of which contained about 500 seeds representing 70 species of or genera, Hillman and his co-workers were able to reconstruct the plant food diet of both the farming community that existed at Abu Hureyra from about 9500 to 8000 B.P. and the earlier Hunter-gatherer group that lived there in a permanent year-round settlement from 11000 to 10000 years ago. Of the 157 seed-bearing species harvested by the hunter-gatherer wild einkorn was among those most frequently, its seeds showed up in almost all of the flotation samples from these early levels (Smith 69). At the nearby site of Mureybit even convincing evidence was produced clarifying the strong reliance on the grain in the hunter-gatherer tribes even before the einkorn wheat was brought under cultivation. Barley is the only plant that is present throughout the entire Fertile Crescent and through the same time period as the both the emmer wheat and the einkorn wheat. While the record of early-domesticated barley overlaps with the other two forms of wheat, it exhibits several interesting differences. There were two forms of the barley that were domesticated and have been recovered from the early farming settlements. One of the plant species had two verical rows of grains, with each grain protected by an outer hull (Smith, 71), the other species contained six rows of grains to each stalk of the plant. The two-rowed barley was domesticated about the same time as the emmer wheat, about 9800 to 9600 B.P. However the six-rowed barley produced more harvest then the two-rowed barley, therefore, it was quickly domesticated soon after that of the two-rowed stalks. By 9500 to 9000 B.P., the six-rowed barley is the only species that was domesticated along with the emmer and einkorn wheat (Sagan, 2 45). The absence of a clear pattern of crop combination is perhaps the most interesting observation that can be made regarding the early domestication of the three plants. However, the advances in storage technology, allowed the former hunter-gatherers to exploit the cereals by grinding their seeds into a mill. This mill was easily kept and this allowed for food production in the colder months when the plants did not grow (Wilkinson, 151). The use of trade had a considerable effect in the movement of the methods that of growing and cultivating the wheat and other resourceful goods. These resources gained in value through interregional trade, which in turn resulted in intensified exploitation of the resources. Another result was the movement of the grains outside their indigenous zone, where they were subjected to different selective pressures, resulting in different strains of wheat and barley (Sagon, 243). After the domestication and cultivation of the plants and animals the small villages began becoming states, they were becoming more and more like a modern day civilization. The early stages of food production in the Middle East were marked by gradual transition from foraging to producing economies. Many changes were caused by the production and cultivation of food. Such changes include population increase, which caused the resulting migration and forced other areas to respond and begin their own cultivation of their resources. Also, there had been a gradual population increase, this was based on the native richness of the environment, which helped spur the spread of food production (Maisels, 140). On the other hand, in the Tigris-Euphrates alluvial plain, cultivation required irrigation, which began around 7000 B.P. and changed the world of farming. Irrigation allowed farming to spread away from the normal areas that were close to the riverbanks, by bringing the water away from the r iverbanks the cultivation began to strive. By 6000 B.P., irrigation systems had become far larger and more complex, and were associated with a new political system. This new establishment was based on central government, extreme contrasts of wealth, and social classes, the beginnings of the state (Wilkinson, 141). The written and archaeological record indicates that the early Mesopotamian states were city states (Sumer and Elam), ruled by a literate theocracy that managed virtually all major aspects of the economy, which was overwhelmingly agrarian. The theocracy was replaced by 4,500 B.P., it was replaced by a secular, military monarchy, based upon an elaborate class system (Sagon, 300). Thus ended the revolution of modern humans in the world of cultivation we now knew how to farm and use the animals to our advantage. As time continues to slip by we find more and more ways to maximize the products we get from the cultivation of plants and domestication of animals (Sagan, 248). To sum everything up Southwest Asia was inhabited by small groups of hunter-gatherers. These groups, due to the climatic change, became more and more sedentary and begin to develop a source of food production. This production of food came from the domestication and cultivation of plants and animals. The herded animals provided a constant source of protein in their diet and allowed for the hunters to expend their energy in other areas of life. The cultivation of the plants allows for a reliable supply of grains in their diet. This made the people of this time able to support larger families, which turned into villages, cities, and ultimately states.

Comparing Heroes and Villains in Measure for Measure, Othello, and Haml

Comparing Heroes and Villains in Measure for Measure, Othello, and Hamlet According to John Steinbeck, "Heroes are innocent; villains are cunning." This statement likely regards the internal aspects of characters, such as intellect, reasoning/motivation, and morality/responsibility, as indicated by consistency in action and/or articulation, as in direct speech or soliloquy. An examination of the heroes and villains in Measure for Measure, Othello, and Hamlet can determine whether Steinbeck's generalization is applicable. Although Measure for Measure is not a tragedy by standard conventions, Angelo can be considered a tragic hero since he falls because of his hamartia, hubris. While he fits into Steinbeck's generalization of "innocent" as a victim of the circumstances created by the Duke, Angelo is responsible for his own fate. When asked "Whether you had not sometime in your life/Err'd in this point which now you censure [Claudio]," (14-15, II.i) Angelo affirms he has never felt love or passion, nor had sex. Thus, being a man of virtue, Angelo believes he has the right to impose morality upon the city: he unquestioningly enforces the law forbidding fornication. Since he is righteous, Angelo's motivation is not wrong or immoral; however, once he begins to manipulate sexual morality in his favor, his innocence decreases. Angelo offers to spare Claudio's life should Isabella engage in sexual relations with him; he claims to be tempted by Isabella's virtue, and does not recognize his own hypocrisy in pro posing there is charity in sinning to save Claudio. The reduction of Angelo's virtue and righteousness continues as he sends Claudio's death warrant after he has had sex with Mariana, who he believed to be Isabella. In additio... ...le to comedies, when considering A Midsummer's Night Dream, As You Like It, and Measure for Measure, in which the heroes are mostly virtuous ("innocent"), and the villains are devious ("cunning"); however, since the Duke and Iago are both cunning villains, Steinbeck's notion of villains is also appropriate for tragedy. More importantly, though, as previously noted, these â€Å"heroes† are directly responsible for their fall, and therefore challenge readers to consider the roles of heroes and villains in tragedy less traditionally; Othello is not cunning, nor is he innocent, and so Steinbeck's parameters exclude him. Thus, a more encompassing generalization would be that tragic heroes are responsible, and "villains are cunning" (Steinbeck). Works Cited Shakespeare, William. William Shakespeare: The Complete Works. Ed. Alfred Harbage. 1969. Baltimore: Penguin, 1994.

Free Essays on The Stranger (The Outsider): Freedom and Death :: Camus Stranger Essays

Freedom and Death in The Stranger (The Outsider)  Ã‚      In The Stranger (The Outsider), as in all Camus’ works, Camus’ views on freedom and death – one dependent on the other – are major themes. For Camus, freedom arises in awareness of one’s life, the every-moment life, an intense glorious life that needs no redeeming, no regrets, no tears. Death is unjustifiable, absurd; it is but a reintegration into the cosmos for a â€Å"free† man. Until a person reaches this awareness, life, like death, is absurd, and indeed, generically, life remains absurd, though each individual’s life can be valuable and meaningful to him. In a sense, The Stranger is a parable of Camus’ philosophy, with emphasis on that which is required for freedom. Meursault, hero of The Stranger, is not a person one would be apt to meet in reality in this respect; Meursault does not achieve the awakening of consciousness, so essential to freedom and to living Camus’ philosophy until the very end of the book, yet h e has lived his entire life in according with the morality of Camus’ philosophy. His equivalent in the Christian philosophy would be an irreligious person whose homeland has never encountered Christianity who, upon having it explained by a missionary, realizes he has never sinned. What is the morality, the qualities necessary for freedom, which Meursault manifested? First, the ruling trait of his character is his passion for the absolute truth. While in Meursault this takes the form of a truth of being and feeling, it is still the truth necessary to the conquest of the self or of the world. This passion is so profound that it obtains even when denying it might save his life. Second, and not unrelated to the first, is Meursault’s acceptance of nature as what it is and nothing more, his rejection of the supernatural, including any god. Actually, â€Å"rejection† of God is not accurate until later when he is challenged to accept the concept; Meursault simply has ne ver considered God and religion worthwhile pursuing. The natural makes sense; the supernatural doesn’t. It follows that death to Meursault also is what it is naturally; the end of life, cessation, and that is all. Third, and logically following, Meursault lives entirely in the present. The past is past and dwelling upon it in any mood is simply a waste of the present. As to the future, the ultimate future is death; to sacrifice the present to the future is equivalent to sacrificing life to death.

Giuliani :: essays research papers

When Mayor Giuliani first began his campaign for mayor he placed a strong emphasis on quality of life, crime, business, and education. This strategy proved to be very successful and he was appointed as the 107th Mayor of New York. As Giuliani began his term began to follow through on his promises and made several changes in many of New York’s important bureaus ("Biography of Rudolph,† n.d.). The first task that Giuliani took was that of decreasing the amount of crime that was present in New York. He implemented new strategies that have since become models that many other large cities from around the world have followed. While Giuliani was mayor, overall crime was down 57%, and murder was decreased by 65%. With these statistics, New York was recognized by the FBI as the safest large city in the world for five continuous years ("Biography of Rudolph,† n.d.). Another area that Giuliani implemented change was in the area of welfare. At the beginning of his term as mayor, one out of seven New York residents was on welfare. Giuliani started a program which would bring work to these residents and help them to become able to support themselves financially. Through this program 640,000 people were able to get off welfare and stop relying on welfare money provided by the government ("Biography of Rudolph,† n.d.). The last area that Giuliani brought change to was the area of education. Giuliani felt that this was a very important and focused on increasing money for education and bringing up standards. He helped to bring the student-teacher ratio to the lowest it had been in many years and increased available money for education by four million dollars.

Assessment of Financial Health

Reocities Home Neighborhoods Making Of Cases in Finance – Final Project Report Friendly Cards, Inc. (1988) Gary Cao Noah N Flom Robert Harris Srini Pidikiti May 1997 TABLE of CONTENTS 1 Assessment of Financial Health & Pro Forma Financial Statements 1. 1 Review of History and Statement of Financial Health 1. 1. 1 Industry 1. 1. 2 Friendly Cards History 1. 1. 3 Friendly Financials 1. 2 Review and Evaluation of Pro Forma Statements 1. 3 Financial Policy / Covenants 2 Beaumont's Decisions 2. 1 Envelope Machine Proposal 2. 1. 1 Evaluation 2. 1. 2 Financial Effect of Investment 2. 1. Recommendation 2. 2 Evaluation of West Coast (new equity offer) 2. 2. 1 Advantages 2. 2. 2 Disadvantages 2. 3 Valuation of Creative Designs, Inc. 2. 3. 1 Capital Structure Argument 2. 3. 2 Weighted Average Cost of Capital Assumptions (WACC) 2. 3. 3 Cash Flows, Terminal Value, Equity Value Valuations 2. 4 Pooling Implictions (Friendly + CD) 2. 5 Friendly Cards Stock Valuation 3 Overall Assessment 4 Goal s for the Financial Structure of Friendly Cards, Inc. ——————————————————————————- PART 1. Assessment of Financial Health & Pro Formas 1. Review of History and Statement of Financial Health Wendy Beaumont, president of Friendly Cards, Inc. , has rapidly expanded her greeting card business through internal growth and acquisitions. Ms. Beaumont realizes that money is currently tight, however, she is adamant about future growth and has sought our opinion as to determine her best course of action. In presenting a decision we will first conduct an analysis of the industry, then give a short history of Friendly Cards, Inc. (Friendly), and then examine Friendly's financial statements to determine the financial health of the company. Industry Information The greeting card industry is dominated by three large companies, (Hallmark, American Greetings, & Gibson), which are referred to as ‘The Big Three'. ‘The Big Three' dominate market share, and the remaining competitors are predominantly small private and family owned firms. The greeting card industry is characterized high fixed costs due to: large inventory costs, large investment costs in the establishment of efficient distribution lines, and the need for a highly diversified product lines. Market leaders enjoy great economies of scale which tends to hinder new ntrants into the market. As a result, the card industry is capital intensive and very competitive. The number of firms competing in the industry has decreased by an annualized rate of 15% over the last three decades. Exiting firms were typically smaller in size, the majority of which had less than 50 employees. Additionally, the competitive nature of the market results in a high degree of pric e sensitivity which culminates in smaller margins on sales. Sales tend to be very seasonal in nature with peaks during major holidays. There is trending toward a larger variety of card offerings (increasing inventories), shorter carrying/selling periods, increased diversification of product lines, and an increase in sales of everyday cards as compared to holiday cards. Friendly Cards, Inc. Beaumont Greeting Card Co. was founded by Wendy Beaumont in 1978, in New York City. She later acquired Lithograph Publishing Co. and took these companies public a year later for $3 a share under the name Friendly Cards, Inc. Friendly has rapidly expanded by acquiring Glitter Greetings of Lansing, Michigan (for cash and equity), whose primary market was selling cards to supermarkets. Soon thereafter, it acquired Edwards & Co. of Long Beach, New York (for cash), whose primary market was selling juvenile valentines through chain, drug, variety, and discount stores, as well as, to wholesalers and supermarkets. These acquisitions greatly enhanced Friendly's distribution line expanding it to a regional power. Later Friendly acquired a California firm (Friendly Artists) which extended the distribution line to a national basis. Friendly Artists' primary market was prepackaged cards direct to the warehouse. Twenty-five percent of Friendly's sales are prepackaged boxes, which have a higher margin than regular cards due to lower return rates and lower handling costs. Currently, Friendly appears to be a niche player in the prepackaged box cards market and has avoided entry into the premium card market, thus, avoiding direct competition with the ‘Big Three. ‘ Friendly's sales are more concentrated than the industry with the majority of sales occurring near Christmas at 30% (vs. Industry 32%), and Valentines Day at 25% (vs. Industry 7%). Thus, over 55% of sales occur within a 3 month period. Plants at Friendly are being used at capacity thus, growth would necessitate further additions or acquiring contract services. Friendly's distribution line is effective for a smaller firm due to its structure. Of twenty salesmen, one-third work on commission thus lowering Friendly's costs. However, one problem with using salesmen on commission and having such a small sales force is the tendency to sell to rack jobbers and wholesale distributors. This decreases the potential margin on cards by two-thirds. Friendly's Financials Sales have increased by over 50% between 1985 to 1987. Cost of goods sold has decreased as a percentage of sales in each of those years thus, producing an increasing margin ( 29. 36% in 1985 to 35. 15% in 1987). The rapid growth by acquisition and the national distribution channels that were accomplished by it, have affected the number slightly. In 1986 selling and delivery expenses increased by 1. 45% and this leveled out in 1987. G&A expenses also spiked in '86, reflecting the recent purchase of another company, and then settled back in 1987. However, while sales may have grown rapidly they have not matched the increase in asset growth, which nearly doubled in 1986. Growth in this company is being funded by improving margins and by increasing leverage, as indicated by the Dupont Data. Although the acquisitions were acquired by both cash and equity, the majority were debt financed, which explains why the ROE figures have increased so dramatically (almost 16%) in the last three years. The activity ratios indicate that the receivable to payable were in arrears by 36 days in 1985 increasing to 52 days in 1987. This is probably a result of increased sales to less creditworthy individuals or inattention to collections. Inventory turnover umbers are shrinking due to the continually larger inventories being carried. Net fixed asset turnover has decreased by 2. 3% between 1985 and 1987. This can be explained by higher growth in assets than in sales. The liquidity ratios indicate that the asset to liability ratio for this company is trending down. The current ratio indicates that the company is becoming slightly more insolvent with a current ratio of 1. 1 8 during '87. However, by looking at the Quick ratio and discounting for the affect of inventory in the asset number, the company is dramatically less liquid at 0. 67 in 1987. This indicates that the company is very highly leveraged and is using its large inventory levels in order to support its substantial borrowing needs. Friendly's actual growth rate exceeded the sustainable growth rate in 1986 and was equivalent in 1987. This difference in 1986 produced a need for added debt to finance growth. However excess funds were not needed to fund additional growth in 1987 since the actual rate of growth did not exceed the sustainable rate of growth. This can also be seen in the total debt to equity ratio which increased from 3 in 1985 to 5. 21 in 1986 and reduced to 4. 1 in 1987. The leverage ratios indicate that the bank loans to debt are fairly well matched, with loans being less than receivables, however, increasing in percentage. Interest bearing debt jumped dramatically in 1986 as a result of debt funded acquisitions but continues to level off along with total debt to equity figures in 1987. Finally, debt to assets has increased dramatically in the last th ree years, increasing by 7. 5% to 82. 5% in 1987. Thus Friendly Cards seems to be very highly leveraged, even more so than other firms in the industry although the trend is to increase debt. This highly leveraged position coupled with the high fixed costs and low margins characteristic of the industry, exposes Friendly as extremely susceptible to fluctuations in the market. Therefore, further debt growth may not be advisable–especially since it is currently violating its existing debt covenants. However, Continued growth, however, is needed as to allow the company to further take advantage of its existing distribution lines and realize further economies of scale. 1. 2 Review and Evaluation of Pro Forma Statements The parameters that Ms. Beaumont has set for the pro formas seem reasonalbe for the most part. There are, however, some questionable numbers. For instance, all the forecasts are based on continued sales growth at 20% per year. When compared to astronomical growth rates of 58% in 1986 and 27% in 1987, these estimates appear almost conservative. The majority of the growth in the past, however, were associated with major acquisitions which served to inflate the sales numbers. The historical reluctance to use equity to grow would serve to limit growth if continued into the future. Furthermore, it may be difficult to continue to grow at such a high rates in an increasingly competitive market. Holding costs of goods runs at 65% of sales and may also present a problem depending on whether the company can continue to manage its costs as it continues to grow. It could be argued that the reason CGS has dropped recently is due to the acquisition of Friendly Artists and the increasing reliance on a sales mix made up of low cost prepackaged boxes of cards. A shift in the mix away from these items could increase costs. Also, further acquisitions will serve to push up delivery and selling costs. For our purposes, however, holding them flat seems reasonable. The tax rate seems low at 38% but, depending on the new volume of sales and the maximum tax rate for a corporation, this rate could be even higher. And while the rest of the numbers seem to follow their previous assumptions, the inventory turnover, debt to asset, and interest rate assumptions could be assumed differently. As a result of increased competition in the industry, increasing variations of cards as well as shorter holding duration, it is very unlikely that inventory turnover would improve to 1. 1, and it may very well drop well below this number, possibly to 1. 75. Since growth is likely to continue into the future, an increased amount of inventory will be needed for new market areas. Debt to assets needs to decrease, but this will be difficult to do without funding growth by equity rather than debt. The large sales growth assumptions are directly related to acquisitions, thus increasing assets. If this is done through equity, this number is very realistic. Finally, there may be a problem with the assumption that interest rates on LTD will be 11%. The Monetary Policy Report to Congress indicates that rates should tend to decrease in the future so this rate may be attainable even to such a highly leveraged firm as Friendly. Without more information this estimate seems fine. 1. 3 Financial Policy / Covenants Friendly's apparent financial policy is rapid growth by debt. This debt-financed growth may be due to a ownership issues that could affects Ms. Beaumont's control over her company. The financials indicate that growth is also taking place at the expense of margins, as indicated by the Dupont data. The company believes in the economies of scale of the industry and appears to be establishing a national distribution network. While costly in the short run, this strategy may enable a viable and profitable position in the industry. The elements of Friendly's financial policy appear to be the following. Friendly's capital structure mix is governed by a debt orientation. Its debt/assets ratio is currently at 82. 5% which places is significantly below the AAA rate. AAA bonds are listed at 9. 7% while Friendly can only borrow at 11. 5%. While equity has been used in recent acquisitions there is a strong preference by management to use debt funding. Without question, Friendly is at an integral juncture. Existing lines of credit are maxed out and the bank is imposing new covenants on future loans: bank loans ; 85% of AR and liabilities not to exceed three times the BV of the company. Friendly currently has a $6. 25 million line of credit. Under the current structure Friendly will be in violation in 1987 with bank loans at 87% of AR and debt to equity is at 3. 13 times. Significantly, bank and trade credit for Friendly is expected to reach over $9 million in Dec. '87. Long term and short term debt are both fueling growth. The basis is assumed to be the prime rate (which is 8. 5%) plus 2. 5% points. This is assumed to be a fixed rate established at the time of borrowing. The company's currency is the U. S. dollar and the company does not have any exotica policy to mention. Control of the company rests solely with Ms. Beaumont as she is both the president and the leading shareholder, possessing 55% of the stock. An additional 20% of the stock is owned by employees and officers of the company. Finally, earnings are retained for future growth and meeting current obligations. There are no dividend payments and the stock has depreciated in value from a high of $15 a share. PART 2. Decisions faced by Ms. Beaumont 2. 1 Envelope Machine Investment Evaluation of the Envelope Machine We do not agree that the investment in the envelope machine will result in a return of 31%. The reason for this is that the working capital needed to fund the machine would be funded by additional debt by the company. The interest on the debt needs to be considered before evaluating the total return on the investment. Under this scenario, and considering that Friendly Cards' interest on debt is 11% the interest expense is $22,000 per year before taxes. Our Estimated Annual savings from Operation of Envelope Machine, Years 1 through 8 ( Dollar figures in thousands) is as follows: Savings: Outlays for envelopes purchased in 1987 $1,500 Incremental expenses from manufacturing envelopes: Materials$ 902 Warehouse 94 Labor 91 Depreciation 62 Total Expenses $1,149 Increase in Profit before Taxes (decrease in COGS) 351 Interest Expense on Working Capital 22 Actual Increase in Profit before Taxes 339 Increase in Income Taxes @. 38 125 Increase in profit after taxes $ 204 The projected Cash flows for the investment in the machine are: (attachments). Based upon the cash flows projected in the above Table the internal Rate of Return on the investment is 26%. Based upon Friendly Cards Cost of Equity which is 20% (Appendix WACC) buying the machine with all equity at 20% or debt at 11% is recommended Financial Effects of Investment The Financial effects of buying the envelope machine are can be examined in detail in Appendix Machine. The activity ratios for Friendly if the investment in the machine is made are: (attachments). The investment in the machine has the following effects: * Decreases Cost of Goods Sold by about 1. 5 % which in turn increases the Gross Margins * Decreases Inventory Turnover from 1. 91 to 1. 86 * Increases Funds needed in 1988 by $418,000, in 1989 by $323,000 and in 1990 by $112,000. * Earnings per share increase to $2. 89 in 1990 from $2. 53 in 1990 without investment * By making the investment in the machine Friendly would not be able to meet both of the covenants required by the bank The ratio of the bank loans to receivables exceeds . 85 in all three periods. * Ratio of Friendly's total liabilities to the book value of the company's net worth exceed 3 in 1988 and 1989 which do not meet the covenant but in 1990 the ratio drops down to 2. 94 where it meets the covenants. 2. 2 Evaluation of West Coast Offer (New Equity) We agree with Ms. McConville's conclusion that Friendly should accep t the offer from the West Coast Group at the terms stated if that was the only option available to Friendly Cards. The advantages of this proposal would be: Agency costs will be only 5% compared to the actual costs if an investment bank was used to sell securities of the company in a public offering. * The infusion of equity would enable Friendly to meet all the covenants required by the banks (Appendix WC) enabling Friendly to continue its rapid growth without any financial restrictions from the bank. * The equity infusion would enable Friendly to invest in the envelope making machine and reduce its cost structure and still meet all covenants required by the bank. * The uncertainty about how many securities will be sold if a public stock offering is held is eliminated. Continuing rapid growth would enable Friendly to retain most of the sales representatives who might shift to a competing firm if growth is slowed to enable Friendly to meet its financial covenants * The price that Fr iendly is getting is more than reasonable based upon the present value of the discounted cash flows as shown in (Appendix Valuation) Disadvantages of accepting the proposal would be: * Loss of control. Ms. Beaumont's who presently owns 55% of the outstanding shares would own 40. 37% of the company after the equity infusion. Even though along with the employees of the company she would own 60% of the company she would not be able to make unilateral decisions. * The West Coast Investors who would own 26% of the company would have a significant say in how the company should be run which may affect the current management structure and aversely effect their ability to mange the company as they wish. * Reduction of EPS. Earnings per share would be reduced to $2. 29 per share from the projected $2. 89 per share in 1990 with the purchase of the machine and without equity infusion due to the dilution effect of the new shares. This earnings dilution would probably result in a lower share price. (Approximately $18. 32 instead of $23. 12 considering a price multiple of 8). 2. 3. Valuation of Creative Designs, Inc. Capital Structure Argument Ms. Beaumont had been considering a possible acquisition of Creative Designs, Inc. (CD), a small mid-western manufacturer of studio cards. She had examined the details of CD's operations for four months, and believed that under her management, CD could immediately reduce cost of goods sold by 5%, and reduce other expenses by 10%. If Friendly acquires CD in early 1988, assumptions are made that CD's sales would stay flat during 1988 but would grow at 6% per year thereafter. Based on the following table from case facts, there is a wide range of Debt-to-Equity Ratios for the four companies within the same industry. American Greetings'(AG) D/E ratio increased from 0. 35 in 1985 to 0. 63 in 1987. The reason for this upward trend was that American Greetings had diversified its business segments; from solely relying on greeting card sales AG expanded into gift wrap and stationary goods, such as playing cards, gift-books, and college study guides. Such diversification efforts demanded higher debt levels. In addition, AG was a large company with annual sales of $1,174 million in 1987, up 16% from 1985. Gibson Greeting's (GG)D/E ratio decreased from 0. 71 in 1985 to 0. 49 in 1987. The reason for this downward trend was that Gibson was a relatively small company, with annual sales of $359 million in 1987, an 8. 8% increase from 1985. GG's growth rate was significantly lower than American Greetings. The total debt-to-equity ratio of Creative Designs would decrease over the next several years. Since CD's sales in 1987 was $5 million, it was much smaller than the above two companies. Based on the pro forma financial statements for the period of 1988 to 1990, we see growing sales and EBIT. As a small-size manufacturer, the best capital structure would be: financing its operations mainly by internal growth and a significant reduction in the company's debt levels. Ms. Beaumont wanted to acquire CD for the following reasons: * In the highly competitive market with high cost in distribution and low margin, Friendly had to grow in order to survive, and CD was a good target; Since CD's shareholders agreed to the acquisition by stock-exchange, â€Å"pooling of interests† accounting method would be used, and the consolidated financial statements more attractive than without CD, and Friendly need not record goodwill (if any) and avoid amortization of goodwill; * Since CD had a relatively low debt level and a very low â€Å"bank loan to receivable ratio†, while Friendly had difficulty meeting its bank borrowing restrictions, acquiring CD would make possible for Friendly to meet the covenants; Friendly can easily integrate CD to its high growth strategy, and expand Friendly's market presence in the mid-western region. Weighted Average Cost of Capital Assumptions (WACC) Based on the case facts that the premium for equity risk was 6% on long-term governmental bond rate of 8. 37%, we may calculate the unleveraged beta for American Greetings and Gibson Greeting, and use a derived estimate as a proxy for CD's unleveraged beta. 1987 Financial Data for Two Large Publicly Traded Companies To be conservative, we assume the unleveraged beta for CD is 0. 77. Since the cost of debt was 11% and the tax rate was 38%, we calculated CD's cost of equity is 13. 97% in 1988, and the weighted average cost of capital (WACC) is 11. 07%. Over the next five years, CD's WACC would increase to 11. 92% in 1992 due to the decreasing D/E ratio and therefore the tax shield effect. Cash Flows, Terminal Value, Equity Value Valuations In addition to the above information on WACC and sales growth rate, we have made the following assumptions: * Sales will stay flat in 1988, but will grow at 6% per year after 1989. * Cost of goods sold will stay at 55. 2% of sales level. * Depreciation, â€Å"Selling, delivery, and warehousing expenses†, and â€Å"general and administrative expenses† will grow proportionately to sales growth. * Increased Retained Earnings will be used to reduce long-term debt. * Prepaid expenses will increase by a small amount each year. * Interest expenses will decrease over the period since the debt level will decrease. * No divi dend will be paid after 1988. Based on the above assumptions, we found that the total present value for CD was $4. 349 million. Adjusting for the interest-bearing loans totaling $1. million, the net worth of CD would be $3. 049 million, $1. 168 million higher than the calculated value of the stock exchange ($1. 881 million). This indicates that acquiring CD is a good transaction for Friendly. 2. 4 Pooling Implications (Friendly + CD) By using the â€Å"pooling of interests† accounting method, we constructed the Friendly and CD consolidated financial statements. (see Appendix Valuation – Friendly + CD) The impact on 1988 pro forma financial statements is as follows: * New bank loans needed decreased from $1. 585 million to $1. 357 million; * EPS increased from $1. 7 to $1. 73; * Net profit margin increased from 4. 96% to 5. 49%; * Assets turnover increased from 1. 01 to 1. 03; * ROA increased from 5. 01% to 5. 49%; * ROE decreased from 25. 23% to 20. 5%; * Days in Recei vable reduced from 157 to 149; * Bank loan to receivable ratio decreased from 0. 9 to 0. 74; * Interest bearing debt to equity ratio decreased from 2. 62 to 1. 92; * Total debt to equity ratio decreased from 4. 04 to 2. 62. The overall impact of acquiring CD to CF is positive. The result of pooling is in line with Friendly Cards' financial strategy. In the long run, acquisition of CD would become an integral part of Friendly Cards' strategic plan for the next few years to achieve a higher growth rate and increased market share. In the short run, acquisition of CD would meet Friendly Cards' immediate financial needs enabling the company to meet the bank's covenants, specifically, to reduce the â€Å"bank loan to receivable† ratio to an estimated 0. 9 in 1988 to 0. 85 or lower, and to decrease â€Å"total liabilities to equity ratio† from an estimate 4. 04 in 1988 to 3 or lower. The result of pooling shows that these two requirements are met. 2. 5 Friendly Cards Stock Valuation Assumptions: Capital structure Based upon the pro forma financial statements and the bank covenants' requirements, we assume the capital structure to be 75% debt and 25% equity. Any other capital structures with the reduction of debt would make it more difficult to get additional capital through equity. We need the debt financing to be able to meet Ms. Beaumont's growth requirment. Discount rates We assume the cost of debt to be 11%. This is based upon the following facts: In early 1988, interest rates were declining, the 10-year Treasury Notes rate declined from 9. 52% in October 1987 to 8. 9% in January 1988; even though the short-term Prime Rate increased to 9. 07% by October 1987, it had decreased to 8. 5% by January 1988; furthermore, the Federal Reserves Monetary Policy Report(Jan. 1988) stated that â€Å"high rates of capacity utilization and low unemployment suggest the needs in maintaining progress toward price stability†, indicating that interest rates would stabiliz e at the present level. Also the need to reduce the trade deficit, business and labor would continue to exercise restraint in price and wage behavior, indicating the Fed would hold interest rate at the present level, or even reduce them. We assume the interest rates would hold stable at the present level of 8. 5% and that the lending institution will continue its premium of 2. 5% over prime. We assume all the funding for the debt to be short term as most of the debt would be used to fund the current assets (receivable and inventories). This would be a proper matching of funds. Based on the valuation of Friendly Cards, we found that * FCFE Method (Free Cash Flows for Equity): the valuation was -$ . 95 per share ; * Free Cash Flow for Capital: the valuation was -$5. 5 per share ; * Book Value Method: using 11/2 times Book Value the valuation was $7. 40 ; * P/E ratio (multiple) method: using the industry average P/E ratio of 7, the valuation was $9. 50 per share. (Please refer to appendix Valuation – Friendly Cards, Inc. ) The only way the company's stock price was worth $8 to $9. 50 per share was that West Coast Investors and Creative Designs valued the company using a Price to Earnings multiple method. **Note** We attempted to back out a discounted cash flow model that would justify an $8 or $9. 50 share price. By altering certain assumptions, most specifically the sales growth rate we can achieve positive valuations of the stock price. Slower growth in sales PART 3 Overall Assessment Our recommendation to Ms. Beaumont is to (1) First, acquire CD with a stock exchange of 198,000 shares at $9. 5/share, (2) With the additional leverage obtained by the CD acquisition, purchase the envelope machine. As evidenced by the above matrix and graphs, even though Friendly Cards would achieve a higher EPS by not acquiring CD but buying the machine, it would not meet the bank covenants. Advantages of our recommendation: * Meet all of the bank's covenants; * Meet Ms. Beaumont's growth needs; * Meet Ms. Beaumont's requirement on D/E ratio of 2 by 1990; * Maintain a relatively high level of control for Ms. Beaumont over the company; * Position the company for future growth by providing a more favorable D/E ratio. Disadvantages of our recommendation: * EPS dilution by acquiring CD from $4. 64 per share in 1992 as compared to $4. 15 with the CD acquisition; * Reduce Ms. Beaumont's control from currently 55% to 41. 5% with CD acquisition. PART 4 Goals for the Financial Structure of Friendly Cards, Inc. 4. 1 Friendly Cards capital structure consideration Our recommendation is that Ms. Beaumont to move Friendly Cards' capital structure closer to 60% debt and 40% equity (a D/E ratio of 1. 5). Our reasoning for such a recommendation is as follows: Flexibility: For future growth and possible acquisitions, Funds for acquiring more assets (another envelope machine! ) to reduce costs. Risk: Ability to deal with possible adversity into the future (i. e. , low sales) Lower risk level than current D/E ratio Income: Future growth in earnings due to ability to acquire market share through acquisitions. Further exploit the economies of scale to reduce CGS, Handling and Distribution Costs Control: Maintain controlling interests in the company Timing: Having a higher D/E Friendly can issue equity at more favorable terms at a later date when EPS is higher, the market environment is â€Å"friendlier†, and the company will be in a better financial position. Our recommended target capital structure for Friendly Cards, Inc. of 60/40 D/E is realistically attainable within 3-4 years (mid 1991). Friendly Cards Case Attachments