Saturday, August 31, 2019

Explore the Theme of Kingship and Ruling in Sophocles’ Antigone.

In Sophocles’ Antigone, the audience experiences a catharsis wherein sympathy and fear is evoked for Creon, a tragic hero whose Kingship was spoilt by corruption, human fallibility and pride. Throughout the play, Creon has demonstrated how even rulers with a strong moral stance can still fail in their attempts to do good, unfortunately due to exceeding the limits of their humanity. To begin, the tragedy that befalls Creon as a man devoted to his country and to his religion seems to feel undeserved.Creon declares â€Å"whoever places a friend above the good of his own country, he is nothing† as an expression of his loyalty to his State; the dramatic element is accentuated through the term â€Å"nothing† which reverberates off the script in an echo that demands the viewer’s reverence and attention. In this way, Creon’s stance on leadership is magnanimous because Creon no longer works on the order of his family’s needs but on the order of the Go ds and his state.To highlight this, we see the chorus exclaim: â€Å"the king of the realm is coming†¦ whatever the gods are sending now†¦ / what new plan will he launch† The significance of this â€Å"realm† is interpreted as something divine yet disconnected from humanity, so as to highlight Creon as merely a servant to the Gods. In this sense, Creon is a character that is empathized with for his respect towards the Gods, thus his actions can be attributed to the will of the Gods. â€Å"Exactly when did you last see the gods celebrating traitors? Inconceivable! exclaims Creon, whose actions are characterised by a morality modeled after their will. A modern audience will interpret the duty of the King to come as a direct order from the Gods, therefore whatever law Creon enacts, and whatever cause he chooses to pursue, would have been the Gods’ law. The question thus arises: was Creon’s tragedy truly of his own doing? The authority of the King diminishes when put into perspective with the Gods, and the audience can view how even a man of superior rank can still be thwarted by the almighty powers of God.This, as a result, can reinforce a feeling of fear, or caution for those watching. However, one question seems to question the purity of his intentions: â€Å"Am I to rule this land for others—or myself? † Although, contextually speaking, this question was meant to demonstrate his loyalty to the state, it does include dark, subtle undertones that could reveal Creon’s hidden intention. The hyphen in the ending of the question â€Å"—or myself? † seems to delay the response and give a slight hesitance to Creon’s speech.The question stands: does Creon make decision because he believes it is best for his country? Or does he rule because the influence of power has enabled him to act upon his own bias? Creon’s kingship creates an extension of itself with Haemon, whose â€Å"flesh and blood† describes how profoundly connected Haemon is to his father. The tie between Creon and Haemon explores how kingship challenges both the emotional and human relationship between father and son. Perhaps he invests so much of himself into the idea of â€Å"father and son, the same blood† that a part of him equally dies with his son.Haemon has been included into Creon’s life as an indispensable structure, a piece inseparable piece from the framework of Creon himself. In fact, Creon cries to the â€Å"harbor of Death† asking â€Å"why me? why are you killing me? †, thereby portraying how the blood link that connects both father and son is interwoven in their lives so that one life is married to the other. Creon describes himself as a â€Å"shattered† man after the death of his son, thereby illuminating his vulnerability as a flawed human being.As such, the audience, witnessing his fall, can experience a heightened catharsis knowing a man of such supremacy can crumple so easily and in such a wretched fashion. It is implied that Creon himself has the power to shape Haemon’s destiny and his duty as a person by â€Å"produc[ing] good sons—a household full of them, dutiful and attentive†. Creon describes his son to be â€Å"bred and reared† for a specific purpose. Both terms â€Å"produce† and â€Å"bred† create the effect of a human fabricated at certain specifications.This puts Creon in a state of authority not only over the mores his son must live by, but the way his son is formed as a human being, which is eerily reminiscent of the divine authorities and the power of the fates to write out a person’s destiny. In a sense, Creon compares the greatness of his sovereignty to that of the Gods, thus portraying how his power is a prerequisite to his hubris. Moreover, Creon establishes dominance over other men using his title as King, naturally elevating him beyond the rank o f mortal men.To demonstrate his frightening autocracy, Antigone claims that â€Å"[the chorus] would praise me too/ if their lips weren’t locked in fear†. This fear of Creon is further bolstered by powerful oratory, which Creon uses as a tool in commanding his people’s patriotism and emotions. The expressive visual imagery characterized of Creon’s speech can turn a traitor into a fiend who â€Å"thirsted to drink his kinsmen’s blood. † The impact of the words â€Å"thirsted† and â€Å"blood† stress this graphic image of death and blight, which Creon manipulates to kindle hate and passion in his people against Creon’s enemies.Although a ruler is meant to serve the state and protect it, Creon uses his rhetoric to advance his own beliefs—a decision characterized by greed. What is debatable about where Creon’s sense of leadership is whether he is doing this as an act of greed or an act of what he believes is co rrect for the state. Leading on from power, the audience understands that Creon’s arrogance comes from the notion that his power ennobles him beyond the ranks of mere humanity. They see him gain much more authority as a saint, savior or being closely linked to God.His sentries all address him as â€Å"My lord† and Creon is able to issue death sentences to reinforce his superiority. Creon uses terms that are definitive of a person’s fate, despite the fact that he has no control over their fate in any substantial way: â€Å"Not a word of hope—your doom is sealed. † The precise diction of â€Å"doom† recalls the notion of a terrible fate that stretches beyond the mere human life, and forwards into the dark murkiness of afterlife. To pronounce it as â€Å"sealed† is to imply it is fixed; Creon uses this to strike fear in the heart of Antigone, yet it also presupposes that our fates, once written, are unchangeable.The dramatic irony that c omes with Creon proclaiming this as his fate is being written heightens the tragic ending of the play—the Katastasis. Creon’s arrogance could be seen as a shift in character from what the audience knows of Creon in Sophocles’ Oedipus the King. Creon once proclaimed, â€Å"if you think crude, mindless stubbornness such a gift, you’ve lost your sense of balance† as a display of humility and rationality. Before his reign as King of Thebes, Creon understood the natural traits found in a good leader involved a sense of poise and understanding of one’s own limits.Yet, once he had possessed â€Å"the throne and all its powers†, there was a change in character. â€Å"All its powers† incorporates the idea of excess and abundance, which is characterised as hubris, therefore the audience might feel a sense of fear for the upcoming and inevitable demise that may come for Creon. Naturally, when this power is questioned, Creon’s insec urities begin to appear and after some time, become more pronounced and irrational. Creon expresses his shame and his exasperation of Antigone’s defiance through the terms â€Å"laughing, / mocking us to our face with what she’d done†.These words hint to a sense of stigma that comes with a woman defying the rules set out for her by the authorities that govern her. Drawing from the cultural context of Sophocles’ play, women were mainly viewed as inferior beings—often they were weak or even dangerous, which makes the defiance against the state and Creon’s edict more grave and scandalous. Creon portrays his fear of being diminished by a woman through his cry: â€Å"I am not the man, not now: she is the man / if this victory goes to her and she goes free. / Never! † because essentially, her freedom would mean his defeat, which in the end would blemish, or even completely fracture, his stature as an omnipotent ruler. Moreover, Creon become s erratic as he is faced with his flaws as a human being. When he is first notified of his errors by a sentry: â€Å"Oh it’s terrible when the one who does the judging / judges things all wrong†, he retaliates in a unnecessarily cruel manner: â€Å"you just be clever about your judgments— / †¦ you’ll swear your dirty money brought you pain. Personally, his cruelty can be interpreted as a defensive insult inflicted to shield himself from the truth of his humanity. This interpretation is supported by the way Creon storms off by â€Å"turning sharply†, as his actions seem to portray a sense of flinching (characterized by â€Å"sharply†) annoyance. This same effect is particularly seen in Creon’s dialogue with Tiresias after he is told of his fate. Creon’s language becomes more infused with anger and insecurity, making him appear weaker: â€Å"you shoot your arrows at my head like archers at the target—† He seem s to refute his own guilt, and justify imself as a person of superiority: â€Å"are you aware you’re speaking to the king? †, which makes him appear untouchable. Creon’s spite is felt through his sharp intonation of â€Å"Spit it out! † and â€Å"lust for injustice! † His reaction to his fate up until his concession is characterized by defensiveness and verbal insults, which can highlight how much of his power and glory he is afraid of losing, Creon becomes frightened by the prospect wherein he would have to concede to his hamartia and undeniable fallibility as a human.The main purpose of these effects is to illuminate Creon’s very human flaws: his insecurities, his paranoia of being thwarted by a woman of lesser importance, and his irritable temper. These flaws consequently form the nature of his demise and conclude the circle of his journey as the Tragic Hero. Essentially, his kingship has brought upon him his downfall because power is ins eparable from vanity, and vanity became the hamartia of the Creon’s character.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Learning Not Litigating Essay

Introduction: With the average age of working employees increasing, the amount of people covered under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) has also grown. With the rise in workers over the age of 40, there has been some indiscretion in regards to the training or lack of training made available to this group. This paper gives an in depth analysis of the findings of Todd J. Maurer and Nancy E. Rafuse in their article Learning, not litigating: Managing employee development and avoiding claims of age discrimination. The article addresses ways to avoid lack of training by creating an environment conducive to continuous learning which promotes employee growth and add value to the employer. The ways older workers have been denied and discouraged from training is explained as well as how the legal ramifications of these actions could hurt an organization. Because of the potential prevalence of age related discrimination, the definitions of terms, conditions and privileges of employment have been defined and may become increasingly actionable. Maurer and Rafuse detail how age discrimination can be avoided in training and development practices. Bringing change and evolution to and organization’s training practices through the use of top-down management training in an attempt to change culture and policies, decisions about who is trained, the supervision of development and bringing awareness to the potential effects of stereotypes. Topic Discussion: Training and Development Opportunities Are Increasingly Important to Today’s Workers Training and developmental activities are of paramount importance when it comes to keeping a company’s workforce competent. For this reason it is important to not only implement training but to also vary the training exercised as there are many forms and people learn in different ways. A few examples listed by Maurer and Rafuse include (but are not limited to) correspondence courses, independent reading, viewing videotapes, technology-based training, job rotation, special committees, and coaching (Maurer & Rafuse, 111). Training becomes important to the older workforce as technological advances occur as well as other innovations alter the way that businesses operate. Because of the ever-changing workplace it is necessary for employees to receive training so that they may adapt and thrive in their working environments. It is not a lack of ability or ignorance to change that is hurting the aging population, it is a lack of employer-provided training that can prevent the growth and progression of an employee. This is why continuous learning has become a prominent factor in the careers of older workers. As business practices change the way an organization operates, the organization needs to increase the amount of training offered to its employees. If there is innovation in business practices then there needs to be innovation in training. In the text Employee Training and Development, Raymond A. Noe discusses Nokia and its definition of continuous learning and how it means that employers support employees’ growth by providing them with the opportunity to develop themselves and to stay technologically current (Noe, 53). This type of environment, especially in a telecommunications company, is important to not only employee growth but also to company growth as the more employees who possess skill and knowledge will likely increase positive performance. The promotion of learning, not the discouragement of learning, will support the aging population and give them the tools necessary to succeed in the workplace bringing about commitment and prosperity to the organization (Noe, 53). Continuous training and learning need to be implemented because the workplace environment has evolved. Maurer and Rafuse allude to this by stating, â€Å"While mid- and late-career stages used to be viewed as periods of maintenance in which workers could avoid learning many new things, most workers now need to continuously learn and adapt† (Maurer & Rafuse, 112). Employees no longer have the ability to simply use what they know until they retire; employees are required to constantly experience gains in knowledge and skill to competitive and productive. The workplace is always changing and brings new challenges which increase the competition for jobs as employers want more knowledgeable and experienced employees. For this reason effectively using the aging workers by combining experience with new skills is in the best interest for organizations (Maurer & Rafuse, 113). Older workers denied access to training Not involving older workers, by failing to nominate, select, or inform them of opportunities to partake in training or development can be seen as a form of discrimination. While there is little documentation on this subject, published articles and literature have suggested that decision makers, whether that be an employee’s manager or a member of human resources, may deny additional training to older workers based on the idea that older workers cannot learn or do not want to learn. Also, if it is believed that an older worker will retire soon, decision makers may be unwilling to provide training to this employee under the assumption that it will reduce the company’s returns on investments. In a study completed by the Department of Labor, 55-64 year old workers are only 1/3 as likely to complete training as their 35-44 year old co-workers (Maurer & Rafuse, 113). In general, organizations that do not place a high value on their older employees do not have active policies or programs in place to advance or develop these employees (Armstrong-Stassen, & Cattaneo). Fewer job growth opportunities are given to older workers as well. Instead of being given job opportunities that are complex, that promote acquiring new skills and learning about different jobs, or that include status or location changes, older workers may be given routine job assignments. While it is difficult to analyze whether this may be a result of discriminatory treatment, the combination of a denial of training and comparatively different treatment of younger works (ex: younger workers receive training while older workers are denied the same training) can be legally supported as age discrimination. Because of the company’s failure to provide training to an older worker, this can result in that employee being denied promotions, being terminated, or being demoted (Maurer & Rafuse, 112-113). It is important to keep in mind that employers are not required to provide training to older workers if systems (computer systems or machinery) have been upgraded – ‘If younger employees adapt without training, then older workers must also’ (Maurer & Rafuse, 113). Older workers discouraged from training A less obvious form of discrimination would be the discouragement or lack of support for older workers to receive training and development opportunities, which can negatively affect terms, conditions, or privileges of employment or the status of an employee. The idea that people change in unfavorable ways with age is a belief held by various individuals, and this belief can affect the perceived ability of older employees’ learning abilities in the regards to the workplace (Maurer & Rafuse, 113). Employees aged 50 and older where described as being ‘inflexible, averse to change, and resistant to learning and understanding new technologies’ in a survey featuring HR executives as the respondents (Maurer & Rafuse, 114). Organization behavior literature has suggested that negative stereotypes may indirectly affect the behavior of older workers by influencing their ideas of what is normal aging behavior; this can lead to older workers conforming to the expectations set by negative stereotypes. In a recent study, regression analysis reaffirmed that older workers who hold greater beliefs that fellow older workers lack the ability and/or desire to further develop their job knowledge or skills are also less likely to have any interest in receiving any training and development activities themselves (Maurer, et all, 15). The more that older workers are exposed to these negative stereotypes and/or perceived discrimination can reduce older workers’ self-confidence, pursuit of learning, self-esteem, personal control, job involvement, and job satisfaction. Within a legal context, the more subtle types of discrimination such as exposure to stereotypes, lack of encouragement and motivation, and lack of access to training and development opportunities are likely to be seen as hostile-environment or constrictive-discharge claims. Since hostile-environment claims require severe and pervasive harassment and constructive discharge claims require that working conditions are so intolerable that a reasonable person would resign, it is difficult to take action against subtle forms of age discrimination in regards to training and development in court (Maurer & Rafuse, 115). What will be Legally Actionable in the Future? Age-related effects on training and development opportunities could become increasingly actionable based on how the courts have defined the terms, conditions, and privileges of employment. In the future, training and development opportunities may become more closely related with job opportunities including promotions, demotions, hiring, transfers, and reductions in the work force. This means that training and development may become the variable that determines an employee’s success or failure (termination) within the workplace. Denying or discouraging older workers access to training or development opportunities would then been seen as more ‘severe’ or ‘intolerable,’ which would lead to more legally actionable hostile-environment and constructive-discharge claims (Maurer & Rafuse, 115). Avoiding Age Discrimination Avoiding age discrimination in the allocation of training and development opportunities is not unlike other forms of discrimination. The best solution is to implement and follow human resource policies that mandate the use of job relevant criteria for decision making. It has also been shown that these same policies can increase the motivation to participate in learning by the workforce (Maurer & Rafuse, 116). There are four major areas in which managers need to evaluate their susceptibility to age discrimination litigation: culture and policies, decisions about training and development, supervision and support, and training managers on ADEA and the effects of stereotypes (Maurer & Rafuse, 116). Within these areas, it is important to focus on differences in access and encouragement. Culture and Policies Opportunities within a company must not be distributed based on anything except job related criteria. By establishing policies that avoid discrimination, a company’s culture will reflect those values. First, human resource policies should specifically state that all decision must be free of discrimination including age biases. These policies must be in plain language and available to all employees. In addition, current policies must be evaluated to ensure there is no intentional or unintentional age discrimination. This examination will help avoid disparate treatment and impact. Culturally, managers must take an active role in disseminating information about opportunities and not rely on informal communication channels. One way to avoid discrimination is to encourage all employees to take part in training, job assignments and job rotations (Maurer & Rafuse, 117). Training & Development Decisions The decision making process for allocating the limited training and development opportunities must be established and described in policy. This will guide managers in making lawful choices. The focus should be on job and task related factors which are best for the company and the most defensible (Maurer & Rafuse, 117). Companies cannot allow managers to give vague reasons for their training decisions because it may be based on stereotypes and ageist assumptions. Often, older employees are thought to fear new technology and cannot learn new skills (Noe, 461-465). A good policy to implement is to ask for self-nominations when it is possible. This will help managers identify motivated employees and provide justification if it is later needed (Maurer & Rafuse, 117). All final decisions to determine which employee should receive training and development resources should be based on who has the ability to benefit from the additional investments. Valid selection and training HR practices not only benefit employee self-efficacy but also the company’s performance from the macro perspective. Research has shown that a company’s performance can significantly change, even within a single year, with job- related selection and training systems (Iddekinge, 2009). There should also be a monitoring and audits of all training decisions to ensure fair distribution. It is illegal to discriminate against women, minorities and people over 40 years old. However, ageist practices tend to do not have the same stigma that workplace racism or sexism carries (Maurer & Rafuse, 117). Supervision and Support Developmental Relationships Beyond having policies that layout proper training and development protocol, managers need to recognize the importance of supporting and encouraging all employees equally. Companies might consider making managers responsible for meeting training and development involvement goals (Maurer & Rafuse, 118). Higher level managers should be receiving feedback from employees on the status of their development needs. This could be used as part of an evaluation that measures a manager’s effectiveness (Maurer & Rafuse, 118). Having open channels of communication between managers and subordinates is necessary to ensure no one feels left behind. Managers can use performance evaluations to encourage more training, get feedback and set goals for career development. Older workers feeling or becoming obsolete because of a lack in development and training can lead to poor performance. Part of the career development plan can be an introduction to new technologies as they become part of the required skills (Noe, 461-465). One factor that managers can use with resource allocation to older workers is plans for retirement if communicated by the employee (Maurer & Rafuse, 117). To further open communication channels and increase opportunities, companies can offer access to careers counselors and programs such as mentoring, apprenticeships and learning networks (Maurer & Rafuse, 118). Train Managers on ADEA The final step in avoiding age discrimination and possible litigation is to train managers and employees on The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). It would be a good investment for companies to hold training sessions on age-related stereotypes and discrimination regularly (Maurer & Rafuse, 118). There should be a strong emphasis on how stereotypes can affect managerial judgments. These trainings can be extended to employees and new hire orientations to avoid an ageist jokes and criticism which can create a hostile work environment. These sessions are a good time to reinforce a zero-tolerance discrimination policy and by doing so can portray a good faith effort which can help limit liability during litigation. Overall, managers need to understand that older workers are as differentiated and diverse as any other group. Their abilities and motivation to continuously learn and develop vary by the individual. Managers cannot assume retirement age or fail to see an older worker’s ability to grow and be a good investment for the company. Class Questions: * Can anyone think of new technology that can improve or promote employing training and development? * Can you think of ways to encourage, instead of discourage, older workers to take advantage of learning and development opportunities? * What are possible unintentional ageist assumptions in the workplace? Bibliography: Iddekinge, Chad. â€Å"Effects of Selection and Training on Unit-Level Performance.† Journal of Applied Psychology. 94.4 (2009): 829-843. Print. Marjorie Armstrong-Stassen, & Cattaneo, J. (2010). The effect of downsizing on organizational practices targeting older workers. The Journal of Management Development, 29(4), 344-363. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/02621711011039150 Maurer, Todd J., and Nancy E. Rafuse. â€Å"Learning, Not Litigating: Managing Employee Development And Avoiding Claims Of Age Discrimination.† Academy Of Management Executive 15.4 (2001): 110-121. Business Source Premier. Web. 9 Oct. 2012. Noe, R. A.. Employee Training & Development. . 4th. New York, NY: Irwin Professional Pub, 2008. 461-465. Print. Todd J. Maurer, Frank G. Barbeite, Elizabeth M. Weiss, Michael Lippstreu, (2008),†New measures of stereotypical beliefs about older workers’ ability and desire for development: Exploration among employees age 40 and over†, Journal of Managerial Psychology, Vol. 23 Iss: 4 pp. 395 – 418 United State Senate: Special Committee on Aging. (2011). Retrieved from website: http://aging.senate.gov/issues/olderworkers/index.cfm

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Review Marine Science Essay

Describe the abyss and the food web of the abyss. * Immeasurably deep chasm, depth, or void. Explain the difference between the theories of Plate tectonics and Continental drift. * Continental drift: The movement, formation, or re-formation of continents described by the theory of plate tectonics. * Plate tectonics: A theory that explains the global distribution of geological phenomena such as seismicity, volcanism, continental drift, and mountain building in terms of the formation, destruction, movement, and interaction of the earth’s lithospheric plates. Describe the 3 types of color patterns commonly found in fish. * Counter shading – The dorsal or top of the fish is darker than the bottom of the fish, making them difficult to see as they blend into the darkness of the deeper water when viewed from above or blend into the brightness of sunlit waters when viewed from below. Many predators use this form of coloration. * Cryptic – Bottom dwelling and reef fish often use chromatophores to blend in perfectly with their surroundings. Often, these fish are bottom dwellers that blend in with the stratum they rest on. Disruptive – Many fish use their coloration to form strongly contrasting patterns that break up the outline of their body making it difficult for predators to see them at all. Describe divergent, convergent and transform plate boundaries and tell what each results in. * Divergent Plate Movement (plates move away from each other)- Continental and continental, oceanic and oceanic. * Convergent Plate Movement (plates move towards each other)- Continental and Oceanic, Oceanic and Oceanic, Continental and Continental. Transform Plate Movement (plates sliding past each other)- Continental and Continental Explain the difference in planetary alignment and tidal ranges for spring and neap tides. * Neap tides represent the smallest tidal range. This occurs when the sun and moon are at right angles, partially cancelling out their gravitational pull. This reduction in gravitational pull results in a tidal range that is 10 to 30 percent less than the mean tidal range. This occurs twice during the 28-day lunar cycle, when the moon is one-quarter full. Spring tides occur when the Earth, moon and sun are in syzygy and represent the largest tidal range. Syzygy is an astronomical term used to describe the alignment of three or more celestial bodies in a straight line. It is commonly used to refer to the alignment of the Earth, sun and moon. When this occurs, the gravitational pull of the moon and sun are combined, producing the largest tidal ranges. As with the neap tide, spring tides occur twice during a lunar cycle, but at the full and dark moon.

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Supply chain management of Coco-Mat case Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Supply chain management of Coco-Mat case - Essay Example The Coco-Mat company has several processes and stakeholders associated with the company and contribute to the success or failure of the business (Nagopoulos, Rontos & Pantazidou, 2013). The company relies on type and quality of raw materials obtained from various small and medium international suppliers which affect the sustainability of products and manufacturing. These suppliers lack knowledge on keeping and maintenance of supplies and about sustainable agriculture. This may lead to substandard raw materials and in turn create shortage of the required number of materials to sustain manufacturing. The company comprises of franchisors that run its retail stores. The franchisors have direct contact with the clients and are obligated to listen and respond to customers’ feedback and demands. If the franchisor is not able to deal with the customers well it may result to the company losing clientele which is against their objective of customer satisfaction. As the company loses the customer then, it means that the company is losing sales; therefore, the business may lack enough money to be invested in employees to motivate them. The company also has logistics par tners who contribute to mismanagement and delays of its products. This result to low performance of TQM implemented (Nagopoulos, Rontos & Pantazidou, 2013). Currently, the company if facing challenges in persuading supply chain partners to participate in TQM implementation. Mr. Chatzimichalis visualises a more responsible supply chain that will employ modern information and communication technologies. The C.E.O is searching for technologies that will enable Coco-Mat integrate marketing, logistics and production that will improve the company’s effectiveness and efficiency. Mr. Chatzimichalis also hopes to improve the role of clients in supply chain operations through technology application (Nagopoulos, Rontos & Pantazidou, 2013). 2. Debate the arguments of Mr. Chatzimichalis to make a more

Introduction to international relations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Introduction to international relations - Essay Example Sometimes it is considered as a whirlwind that brings disruptive and relentless changes that result in some unique social, economic, environmental and cultural problems that make the governments helpless (Brittan, 1998, pp 1-2). Sovereignty, on the other hand is a very important concept which is also not an easy one to describe. Sovereignty, in simple words can be defined as the quality that allows one to have independent and supreme authority over a particular geographic region. Globalisation is one of such powers that have challenged the concept of state sovereignty. The principle objective of this paper is to identify and analyse the effect of globalisation on the state sovereignty. The question, ‘has globalization undermined the concept of state sovereignty?’ will be tried to be properly answered in this paper. In the process of doing so it is crucial to have a clear idea about both ‘globalisation’ and ‘sovereignty’. This paper is attempted to give a brief but clear understanding regarding both the concept and then it tries to analyse the fact whether globalisation has weakened the concept of state sovereignty. Globalisation Globalisation is perhaps the most popular terms in the recent time. ... There are experts who believe that the term ‘globalisation’ may be a new one but the main concept and context are not. For instance, the economic integration among various economies of the world has been going on over the past fifty years. Organisations like GATT and WTO are actually the results of such integration (Gangopadhyay, Chatterji, 2005, pp 57-58). During the period of 1960-70 one of the most widely discussed subjects was the growth of different multinational corporations in terms of change in their operational mode i.e. from domestic to international. In simple words it can be said that globalisation is nothing but a new name which is given to the most recent sequence of internationalisation. According to David Colander, the most significant incident that has led to arise of the concept of globalisation is the breakdown of Soviet Union. This breakdown created a situation where intergovernmental relations started to focus on the economic aspects rather than on t he political aspects (Gangopadhyay, Chatterji, 2005, pp 57-58). Business organisations also started to take people from other countries into consideration as their potential customers. Governments also began to understand the importance of investments from foreign organisations to their economies and started to withdraw various restrictions regarding trade. With the gradual removal of different barriers entire globe started to emerge as a single market for the business organisations and as a result of this, ‘internationalisation’ started to turn into ‘globalisation’. Almost all the economies in the world are greatly impacted by the globalisation. Areas like investment, production and employment

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Pro-life and Prochoice campaigns and the ethical dilemmas within them Annotated Bibliography

Pro-life and Prochoice campaigns and the ethical dilemmas within them. - Annotated Bibliography Example For instance, most countries have been involved in many series of debates concerning the issue of abortion, euthanasia, corporate punishment, death punishment, and/or assisted suicide among many others. Lee claims that in more than one case, people end up failing to come to consensus, a situation that leads to lack of conclusive responses, which the whole issue a decision of an individual’s choice. The connotation â€Å"pro-life† that goes hand in hand with â€Å"pro-choice† are general episodes, which seeks to expound whether an individual is willing to carry out a certain agenda commonly, termed as an ethical dilemma. Since this expansion tends to involve the issue of ethics, it is very engulfing and poses serious challenges when it comes into making the final decision. This section talks about the Pro-Life spectrum, which is an issue that seeks to determine people’s thinking towards life especially when abortion is the subject. Under this spectrum, people engage themselves in a series of campaigns where they seek to publicize to everyone including the recently conceived human being has a right to equal live. As such, abortion should be condemned and termed as a crime of the highest order, as it is similar to committing murder (Lee 2).

Monday, August 26, 2019

Asbestos at the Regional Airport in Virginia Case Study

Asbestos at the Regional Airport in Virginia - Case Study Example Asbestos fibers do not have any detectable odor or taste. They do not dissolve in water or evaporate and are resistant to heat, fire, chemical and biological degradation. Because of these properties, asbestos has been used in a wide range of manufactured products, mostly in building materials, friction products, and heat-resistant fabrics. Asbestos has been used in building-construction materials, cement, textiles, missile and jet parts, asphalt and caulking compounds and paints, and in friction products such as brake linings. These materials are needed for the construction for the new Virginia airport. According to (Timbrell, 2000) "Exposure to asbestos fibers and dust, however, can cause asbestosis, a disease of the lungs caused by the inhalation of asbestos particles, and, after a latent period of up to 30 years and more, various cancers, especially lung cancer and mesothelioma, which is an inoperable cancer of the chest and abdominal lining" Since some materials are not as hazardous like asbestos its better to discontinue patronizing all the products that contain high in asbestos materials for constructing the airport.

Sunday, August 25, 2019

CROWN BRIEF SYNOPSIS police foundations program english Essay

CROWN BRIEF SYNOPSIS police foundations program english - Essay Example It is imperative to notice that a broken beer bottle was found near the foot of the third injured male. As an investigative measure, the statements of four witnesses were taken. The four witnesses did show some variance in terms of their eye-witness accounts. The first witness said that the first male victim had been assaulted by the latter two, when he tried to assault them by using weapon, which was a small knife. The second witness sided the first one, almost echoing the same version. He also added that the first victim had provoked the other two victims who were drinking beer. The third witness said that he had seen t he first victim using his knife and cutting the knuckles of the latter two, while one of the other victims had broken the beer bottle on his head. The last witness, however, changed the story and said that he had not seen the first victim carrying any weapon or provoking the other victims. By assessing the common witness statements given, one can conclude that the first victim had indeed provoked the other two, who had, in a bid to safeguard their lives, assaulted the first victim.

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Handling Strategic Management for Global Operations Essay

Handling Strategic Management for Global Operations - Essay Example This is mainly due to the fact, that with the business of information distribution, a larger scale of customers is needed to support the said industry. Surely, with the traditional set up of business industries, a corporation's aim of reaching the most number of customers may not be that possible. But because of the emerging of virtual business and e-commerce, reaching a worldwide range of different customers had been possible for publishing companies in the present times. One of the examples of companies taking the said big step of development is the HarperCollins Publishers in UK. To learn how the said publishing company progressed so much with the step they took in business, it is very important to know how the company used to deal with their business before they accepted the challenge of changing their systematic approach on their chosen industry. HarperCollins Publishing Company has started only with the printing of pamphlets, hymnbooks, and other religious publications when Millworker William Collins has founded it in the year 1819-1824. The humble beginnings of the company took a great leap during the 1853. This was the time when most of the old publishing materials of the company had been upgraded to support larger amount of printing jobs which the company is already receiving. Years continue to change the different printing systems that the company uses. And every year, more and more books are published through HarperCollins Publishing Company. Yet, the big change had happened when the year 2001 came around. The technological innovations such as the internet paved way to the company's further expansion. The company launched its first ever e-book from a large publishing in UK. The lists of books, which the company displayed through the net, were subdivided into two main categories, which are the information books and the entertainment books. Indeed, one of the main consequences of the major improvement taken by the company had brought many customers closer to the company as well as bringing its stockholders closer to the world. Surely, the profit rate went up and the sales became considerably larger than the usual publication income they got before the innovative years came to the company's existence. But surely, there are still other certain big changes that have to be considered. Of course, attaining success from change is not an easy thing to pass. The Changes Being a part of a virtual organization is not an easy task for a "used to be" traditional organization. In fact, taking this step requires a lot of risks for a certain company. This is because there are a lot of adjustments that are involved when the cyber business is already taking place. Of course, the branches of HarperCollins around the world is still adopting several traditional principles both in business management and marketing. But because the company organization it has formulated for the e-world is set a part from the traditional ways of dealing with business, there had been a lot of adjustments specifically with the skills of the employees needed in operating the

Friday, August 23, 2019

Nursing degree (care study) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Nursing degree (care study) - Essay Example " i am almost finished with the research. Today when i opened the message column, the customer's message explaining the misunderstanding between the customer, ADMIN and this writer as follows and i quote " 61 From: Customer to Writer Date: 2006-08-08 01:47 Subject: Re: i saw the error made by the previous writer causing you to fail. Status: New There has been a clear misunderstanding with reagrds to this assignment the problem is 1) I was assigned a wriiter many months ago and this failed. I had to pay 140 for this!!! 2) I contacted admin but was told that because I had a complaint and it was over 2 weeks old I could not get another writter for free therefore I trusted the service and asked for a writter to complete. 3) The wriiter assigned was terrible and just plagarised lots of work and didn't stick to what I requested. 4) I was assigned a new writter, however I stressed to both the writter and admin that this work had to be completed by 2nd August as the work had to be submitted by 3rd August. 5) The new writter contacted me on the 2nd August after having the work for 5 days and stated that they have not done anything to the work as they could not find the relevant information. 6) I contacted admin to complain and they said I could have a new writter, howver I turned down a new writter as they would of only had about 10 hours to work on this assignemnt until the deadline of 3rd August 9am. So sorry admin had misinformed you, but I had to complete the work myself I stayed up all night. " therefore, please remove this from my current folder because it is unfair to fine me fothe LAZINESS of the RAMESH and the second writer. to be frank i could finish this on time if the customer had me as...i am working on it now. will you rather give your research on the history of the patient you did or do i have get a patient for myself please respond so i can finish this on time. i am almost finished with the research. Today when i opened the message column, the customer's message explaining the misunderstanding between the customer, ADMIN and this writer as follows and i quote " 61 From: Customer to Writer Date: 2006-08-08 01:47 2) I contacted admin but was told that because I had a complaint and it was over 2 weeks old I could not get another writter for free therefore I trusted the service and asked for a writter to complete. 6) I contacted admin to complain and they said I could have a new writter, howver I turned down a new writter as they would of only had about 10 hours to work on this assignemnt until the deadline of 3rd August 9am. therefore, please remove this from my current folder because it is unfair to fine me fothe LAZINESS of the RAMESH and the second writer. to be frank i could finish this on time if the customer had me as the writer in the first place instead of the other 2 writers. by the way, are they premium writers

Thursday, August 22, 2019

European effect on American-Indian cultures and religion in the 17th century Essay Example for Free

European effect on American-Indian cultures and religion in the 17th century Essay The historical emergence of Europeans during the 17th century was synonymous to providing fundamental influence to the American- Indian and especially the New England. This was evidence of the religious rejuvenation that went across to these cultures as affected by the Europeans. Historically, the early European missionaries brought quite a broad diversity of activity in the eastern parts of North America as at 17th century. However, New England was perhaps the central point with which such influence was mostly affected. This was from the long activity of religious autonomy campaign by the European with the Puritans who wanted to make a win to the Massachusetts, Wampanoags, the Nipmucks, and also the New France. Elsewhere, the Jesuits were in their dreary efforts of making a conversion to the nation of Huron. From the encounters of evaluation promulgated from these two races of religious encounters, it is passively implied that the European missionaries had a substantial colonial influence and expansion across the broad analysis of the European colony. This also led to an influential changes in the approach mechanism in which the Europeans through the French Jesuits as well as the English Puritans undertook to ignite religious influence in India. 1 Though the religious development triggered to the New England by the Europeans in the 17th century have largely been outspoken by many scholars, Bruce Trigger came in the 18th century to reshape the phenomenal dispensation as prototyped by many old scholars. This is from the new findings in the fundamental relationship between Jesuit-Huron in the Indians of the New England. Socio-economically, New England had its settlement based on primary societal independence and families who were middle farmers. They had an adherence to a radical state of nominal accreditation where their colonial autobiography was defined by the voluntaristic Puritanism to their conceptual purposes. Historically, the seventeenth century European missionaries are credited to the creation of the more Godly community for the American Indian in New England. This is exampled by the protestation by the militant European groups in the Europe which sensitized a harmonious state of living for the people with a call for one another’s Godly relationship and in pursuit of the nature laws. 1 However, the epochs of the people embracing Christianity was never a simple activity for the Indians who disagreed of the hefty Christianity exhortations by the European missionaries. However, their will to embracing Christianity would only be subject voted by the religious development into Christianity of such ordinary people within the Indians population in England. This culture was rigidly bound to the people and that 90% of the total population in Massachusetts were largely obliged to such exemplary life led by the ordinary settlers. However, from 1616-1619, Wampanoag Indians started providing radical changes to their religious autonomy to start giving into a greater depth of the Christianity philosophies and teachings brought by the Europeans. 2 The religious divine-ship of the American-Indians in the 17th century was credited to the worshipping of animals. However, the coming in of the European missionaries in the spread of Christianity was a benchmark in support for a revolution and the long held system of religious sacrifice by the people. The conception and religious importance held on animals as their gods also implies the benchmark and the stepping-stone for the start of King Philip War in the 17th century. To the American-Indians, animals were important source religious sanctity. Accordingly, the domestication of pigs and also cattle was a big historical malady in shaping the religious outcast and the believes of the Indians in the New England by the 17th century. The effect of these domesticated animals did not only provide change in environmental conception where the other animals were hunted and killed above been moved in the forests to provide a humble environment for the pigs and also cows to adequately graze. The religious conception of these people in New England before the Europeans intervention in the 17th century was defined in parametric measures of the domesticated animals. These animals brought exorbitant changes to the land and its resource environment. Elsewhere, they had a great religious impact where the people’s minds, hearts and also their behavior changed considerably with the effect of the broad array of the effect brought by animals. Animals had a long held spiritual endowment. They provided sanctification to the people when they consumed them. However, these were traditions whose effect was to readily be uprooted by the incoming of the Europeans. Â  The American-Indians in New England by 17th century had a description of Manitou for many animals such as foxes, deer, rabbits and the bears. New England had a great religious believe and adoration in which they described the nominal deities to even take the animal forms. They therefore had various adorns to various symbolic images by certain animals or even specific animal body part. Animals had a preferential significance of power and a brim of ornamental conception which netted the religious autonomy of the Indians in the New England in 17th century. In their folklores as well as Christian cosmologies, animals had a great figuration. For example, the Christ crucifixion blood was commemorated by the red breasts of the robin. Elsewhere, bad luck was signified by crows as well as black cats. Again, the disturbing portents to the death were implied by the ravens, owls and pigeons. A change in weather was fundamentally depicted by swallows, dogs and pigs. 3 The pre-emergence of the Europeans in New England therefore was a companionate imagery of a long implied perception which was in the nature proclaimed by animals. The regular interaction with the animals by the Americans Indians was therefore allied to developing fortunes of human expectations in the correspondence of the various behavioral conceptions that were in these animals. Due to the religious implication and relationship with animals by these people, they had a greater diversity of imminent relationship with the animals than on a divine being. This is perhaps the reason behind their short run rejection of the Christianity by the European missionaries in the 17th century. The emergence of these Europeans was preaching on the believe in a divine supernatural being who was only implied through mere religious believe and adoration. To them, a believe in such a being operating beyond the framework of the physical environment was only a mythological imagery and could not act to provide such a strong religious and godly foundation to what they had on animals. To the Europeans, a great transplantation of civilization echoed in New England. This was a formal compound of change in the speech formalities of the old word, religious and also politics. The nature of the New England is historically described as getting its fundamental shape from the influence of the old world shape by the Europeans. Through their implications, civilization and renaissance which was characterized by change in the religious, political and economic backgrounds was now changing to capture more coherent status of living in New England. The emergence of Europeans in the New England was a concise drive to reformation where the ties bound by the pilgrim colonial was now to be abandoned. This was the foremost trend which fostered great sigh of changing New England primitivism. It was the impact of the shaping tool of protestant revolution hinged to the old and native European revolters that entered the New England. 8 The fatal implications of the Europeans in the England were the revolutionary landmark of renaissance which saw various structures including religious and political autonomy. The surging Europeans in New England brought a great drive of religious awakening. They highly helped to break down the ties of the effect of colonization entrenched to many godly doctrines than a fundamental pursuit of economic autonomy. The so called the English Puritans were the injecting power in which the Indians got a favorable renaissance reshaping that even provided a better room for expansion into the broad old world’s system of identity. To the Europeans, waging spiritual life to the Indians in the New England was perhaps the most important go ahead step which was even to help see the state in a changing periphery. The intention of European missionary in New England was to transplant a divine worship system of Christianity which would capture various fundamental aspects such as praying, self studying as well as struggling against various remote evil inclinations to the society. The essence of evangelism to the American-Indians was to provide new grounds of spiritual conceptions on the God’s sovereignty in which it was seen as a tool for absconding the dogmatism fed to the traditional society of the medieval traditions. The essence of been a protestant was to move as per the codes of absolute standards and sovereignty as promulgated by the will of the God and not the dogmatic apprehension of false gods held by the Indians in worshipping animals. In a light spot, the religious awakening in believe of God among these people came into growth in the mid 1630’s. This was a revolution and renaissance adjudication which was perhaps rejuvenating the traditionalism and the religious backwardness operating within the societal structures of American Indians. Basically, the European Puritans had a lot of religious conceptions to pass over to the people. At the late 1930’s the New England old world’s conceptions were now changing with the people developing a mysterious imagery and preconception of the divine God. The people were developing an essence of humanity build on will of immanent God. There was a revolution adversity in believe of such a supernatural being which even led to changing structures of the societal imagery to incorporate to a greater depth a mysterious preoccupation and believe of a wonderful God. The teaching of the puritans about God was that He was compelled of love with a low preoccupation of vengeance as well as cruelty. The teachings by the European missionaries about God were standing to develop a fundamental strength. The American-Indians grasped the immanent sovereignty of such a God which gave them a special accord providence. The basic concept that would however draw them away from the will of such a divine God was the effects of sins which were the activities done by them and went against the will of this God. The emergence of Christianity in New England was however compounded by the influence of secular concerns. The people had precepts and contributions into farming home-building, governance, practicing folks as well as trading. With the new strength of absorbing a believe in God, humans contentment through Godly pleasure was now beginning to be a precious preoccupation amongst a diverse outlay of sources of pleasure. They turned to worshipping such vengeful God with deep characteristics of personal tenderness. With the changing believe and imageries on God, the people were starting to observe other structures such as economy and also state governance as facets proclaimed by the command and will of God. This engineered revolutionary autonomy in both civil as well as civil factors within the New England. Through this outlay, the Indians started to reshape their thinking about the conception on the God’s will for the state of governance and state leadership as shadowed to strong believers. From this new development in the societal conception, the inhabitants of Massachusetts Bay had the establishment of a theocratic site for Puritans which would even help to strengthening the spread and development of Christianity within the community at a faster status. This was the first trading corporation held in England and whose administration was only alleged to specific personalities proclaimed of having a strong hood of religious authority. However in 1645, political crisis developed to subdivide the New England into two. Those who proclaimed the foundation of Christianity and those who did not. However, in a speech by Winthrop in 1645, the state religious believe was liberal and capturing two outlooks; the natural conception which was the state of the old believe of the natural god and the federal which was personal liberty of exercise his/her religious imageries. The natural liberty provided one’s choice on either well or even evil. Through this believe, one was to continue growing evil. However, the federal was a preconception aimed at creating honesty and good. 5 Analytically, the European Puritanism had two impacts of development in New England. These were both orthodoxy as well as nonconformity. The orthodoxy implication had its development throughout the whole 17th century which was a controversial development on the state of reformation to protestant. The nonconformity concept was alleged to the influence of religious development to the impact of preventing conscience liberty to think and do as people’s wishes. Generally, the emergence of the European Puritans in the New England was a crucial preoccupation which provided a yard for change in the social structures in England. The philosophical dogmatism held in the modalities of state leadership and governance, religion, economic standard was now given an important boost through the changes in the people’s conception about the divine relationship with God. Various philosophical theories of statements such as absolutism were now eroded. Accordingly, the state of governance in the state was modeled from the changing perceptions prototyped from the states of religious autonomy from the people. The New England was in a state of revolution with a model for social revolutions and compactness driving the society before outdoing the prehistoric sediments which were compounded mythologies about the state of the cosmos and the universe. Through the new gazing fundamental conceptions, the people were now developing new formalities of society governance where the society would engage in the broad governance as opposed to the role of absolutist king who dwelt in the control of the society. The state of the society was now beginning to reshape in the manner with which social contracts were now beginning in the development from their status of natural state of liberty as well as the regulation by the civil society. Therefore, European missionaries can be described as providing an elaborate tool for revolution, renaissance and changing social status in which the old world mythological conception of the society was getting a reawakening to newer and a more development conscious stakeholder-ship. The government and development structures of the New England are absolutely rooted to what Europeans did for it

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Owner vs. Steward Essay Example for Free

Owner vs. Steward Essay Owner vs. Steward BY vflnel 23 Owner vs. Stewart Owner vs. Steward in the Kingdom Being the owner means that it belongs to you. Its yours. You have all rights to it. There are no limitations on what you decide to do or not to do with it. You are in full control of your possessions, regardless of how much you have. You are faithful to what is yours. You rule over it. It is your Lord. And nothing or no-one can take it from you. A owner knows all commands all and administers all. A owner makes all the decision on your life, your finances, your well being, your past. Present and your future. Now being a steward you have to understand that you are Just a manager of the affairs of the master, with the best interest of the master in mind, the steward knows that the master will return and settle all accounts for which they are responsible. A steward doesnt own anything. For every beast of the field is mine. And the cattle on a thousand hills. ow all the birds of the mountains, and the wild beast of the fields are Mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you: For the world is Mine, and all its fullness. -Psalms 50: 10-12. 1f you take away the servant/master relationship from the idea of stewardship then you take away obedience and put sovereignty in the hands of the steward. As a steward you dont have a say so over things that dont belong to you. Being good steward is impossible to do unless you have the proper perspective about the things in your life. Being a steward you have to be careful about your desires to be rich! Even money doesnt belong to you. Therefore in order to be a good steward you must never view money as a end in itself, but merely as a resource used to accomplish goal and obligation as outlined by God. A good steward has its rewards. God promises that if we are faithful stewards over what we have, God will reward us to be stewards over more things. (Matthew 25:23). So understanding the two we can go on to prosper in the Kingdom.

Sub Sector Indices and Crude Oil. Gold, Market Return

Sub Sector Indices and Crude Oil. Gold, Market Return CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Introduction The global crude oil price has been seen a sharp increase in recent years and has been widely reported in the daily newspaper or TV news. For example, popular business and financial US based website Bloomberg has been constantly providing breaking news headlines like The crude oil hits to level of $ 120 per barrel or Crude Oil Increases to 25-Month High as Commodities Gain. Besides, video clips are uploaded on the website with commentary by senior investment analyst on the last traded crude oil price with prominent TV host. It has been noted that rising crude oil prices has created jittery and uncertainty in the financial market. For example, any negative news on price increase or disruption to oil supply will cause stock market indices like Hang Seng Index, Nikkei 225, STI (Straits Times Index), Shanghai Composite, Seoul Composite, and others regional markets to fall sharply knee jerk reaction from the investors on panic selling . Theoretically, soaring of crude oil prices will cause inflation and inadvertently would cause interest rates to go up. Consequently, this would impact various segments of the financial market especially the stock market. It has been argued that continues rising on global oil price will eventually erode the company profit margin. Basher, Haug, and P. Sadorsky (2010) found that oil price can affect prices directly by impacting future cash flows or indirectly through an impact on the interest rate used to discount future cash flows along with in the absence of complete substitution effects between the factors of production and rising oil price. For example, there would be an increase in the cost of doing business as cost of capital will increase. In financial terms, discounting the free cash flow with the higher discount rate (cost of capital) will cause the fair value of stock price valuation to decrease significantly from previous valuation. J.Happonen (2009) also highlighted that spi king high prices on crude oil will affect greatly the poor as fuel costs are most significant in food production and transportation cost. High oil costs also hit various economies on a macro-level. Commodity analysts employ various types of methodology e.g. fundamental or technical analysis to forecast the future trend of the crude oil price meanwhile investment bankers start to develops and launches a new commodity mutual fund or unit trust products to attract attention on the public. As a precaution and in order to protect their investment, risk adverse investors are moving their assets into the safer assets like precious metal, e.g.; gold, silver and etc. According to Basher Sadorsky (2006), oil is the lifeblood of modern economies. When growth of Growth Domestic Product (GDP) of the countries are rapidly increasing like BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India, and China), total demand oil of the countries will increase significantly. There is a positive relationship between the crude oil price and global gold price trend in the market. The linkage of gold between the risings of crude oil price has been investigated and empirical studies show that the two commodities are correlated each others. P. Narayan, S. Narayan and Zheng (2010) examine the long-run relationship between gold and oil spot and futures markets at different levels of maturity and found a significant positive correlation between crude oil and gold price. The most oil producers Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) members are from Islamic country such as Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Libya, and etc. Based on the Islamic historical studies, Islamic law is forbids the use of a promise of payment such as fiat money USD dollar acting as a medium of exchange. Thus, most of members try to diversify their vast US dollar revenue holding into precious metals e.g. trade in gold Dinar and Dirham. The concept of Gold Dinar System was mooted out by our former Prime Minister Malaysia Tun Dr. Datuk Seri Mahathir on year 2002 before. The purpose of adopted the gold Dinar and Dirham is to represent the solely currency for international trade and prevent the Asia currency crisis 1997 to happen again. Meanwhile, some of the members also refused to accept USD as currency trade on the crude oil like Iran and Venezuela have been pushing for a switch to the euro to protect the value from further losses. This caused by US government adopted t he ease monetary policy on keep printing their money to curb the recession economy. Ultimately lead to USD dollar depreciated value relative with the Middle East oil producers currency. 1.2 Problem Statement Oil has been an important commodity and influences the economic activities of the country. On the other hand, gold has been used as important hedging tools to hedge against inflation which among others has been caused by rising oil prices. At present, with the present escalating oil prices, the world economy is grappling to contain inflation and ensure that the economic growth is not derailed. As a result, commodities like crude oil and gold has been a subject of studies by academics in various countries. Gold has been used as a good indicator of expected inflation in the market while oil is a barometer for deflation. Thus, when inflation is expected, investors will divert their asset to the gold portfolio to protect their asset value. On the other hand, when deflation is expected investor will reallocate their funds and start to buy safer government bond. This reaction can partially be explained by behavioral finance whereby the investor is irrational and market is an imperfect. A large body of empirical research has been conducted on the impact of oil prices and other macro variables with relation to the stock market. Wang, CP. Wang, and Huang (2010) attempt to establish the relationships among oil price, gold price, exchange rate and international stock market. They investigated the fluctuations in crude oil price, gold price, and exchange rates of the US dollar against other various currencies on the stock price indices of the United States, Germany, Japan, Taiwan and China respectively, as well as the long and short-term correlations among these variables. G. Sharma, A. Mahendru, (2010) studies on the impact of macro-economic variables on stock prices in India. In Malaysia, Shaharudin and Hon (2009) extended the research to investigate the stock return in relation with firms size and macroeconomic variables (Consumer Price Index, Industrial Production Index, Money Supply, Interbank Money Market Transaction, three months and six months Treasury Bills Disc ount Rate and crude oil prices) and found that stock return were significantly influenced by selected macroeconomic variables. Based on the importance of two commodities prices and gold, this paper is attempt to investigate and address the significant level of relationship between the commodities and the selected 10 major sub-sector components indices in FBM Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI). There have been limited researches studies on the different degree of impact of the crude oil price, gold price, market return, and short-term interest rate against sub-sector components index. A small number of studies were mainly using stock index FBM Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) as the general proxy for overall performance of stock market. However, the stock index consist a numbers of sub sector components index in FBM Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) it may not be a true reflective of a particular contribution of a sector to the overall stock market index. Thus, in our research will studies on these and examine the degree of significant level for commodities impact to a particular sub sector composite in dex. 1.3 Objective of the Study The main objective of the study is to examine the relationship of majors sub-sector indices between the crude oil prices, gold prices, market return, and short-term interest rate. The study will includes the examination of correlation between sub sector indices and 4 other variables as mentioned earlier. A sub-analysis on the gold oil ratio will also be conducted. Gold oil ratio is a barometer of economic vibrancy and when times are good; the ratios indicator remains low and these reflect a relatively robust priceand demandfor crude oil. When fear is pervasive or the economy slumps, the ratio is high, as gold is chased by investors looking for a safe haven. In other words, this would infer that when the current ratio is below the benchmark, gold price is either too cheap or crude oil is too expensive. When the ratio is greater than benchmark, it will mean otherwise. 1.4 Significance of the Study The economies of the world are now integrated in terms of trade and capital flows with formation of global network across different region. As such, when financial crisis occur, it will have systematic effect throughout the world. A clear example is the occurrence of U.S. Sub-prime crisis which happened in 2009 and present year Euro Zone Debt Crisis was created contagion effect to the global economy. With advancement of technology and innovation of financial product, risk adverse investors should be more alert on the important signals or indicators as a guide to monitor and time the market to avoid any unexpected risk. The aim of this paper is to study the relationship of oil prices, gold price, market return, and short-term interest rate on majors selected sub-sector index. The results on this study will add to the body of knowledge and assist policymakers like Bank Negara Malaysia as well as pratictioners such as corporate managers and investors to participate in the stock market. It also enhance their understanding on the level of impact on the four (4) variables to the selected sub-sector indices. The Arbitrage Pricing Theory (APT) postulates that every investor believes that the stochastic properties of returns of capital assets are consistent with a factor structure. For the purpose on this study, the APT model was adopted in evaluating the major sub-sector components indices relationship with various macroeconomic risk factors. The conclusion of the study shall enrich investor understanding on some sub-sector industries relationships to macroeconomic risk factors. Thus, smart investors still have a chance to explore it and gain return on that sub-sector industries. 1.5 Definition of Terms KLSE (Kuala Lumpur Composite Index) The FBM Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) is used as a proxy for the performance of the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange and comprises the largest 30 companies listed on the Main Board by full market capitalisation that meet the eligibility requirements of the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Ground Rules. The two main eligibility requirements stated in the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Ground Rules are the free float and liquidity requirements. London Bullion Market (LBM) (U$ Troy Ounce) price Index shows the performance of gold prices over time per troy ounce. The troy ounce is a weight measure for precious metals, which is still used in the Anglo-American zone. It is named for the French city of Troyes. Crude Oil WTI (West Texas Intermediate) Known as Texas light sweet, is a type of crude oil used as a benchmark in oil pricing. It is a light (low density) and sweet (low sulfur) crude oil. It is the underlying commodity of New York Mercantile Exchanges oil futures contracts. T-Bill band 4 T-Bill band 4 is type of money market instrument. The Malaysian Treasury Bills (MTB) issued by the Central Bank of Malaysia are tradable on yield basis (discounted rate) based on bands of remaining tenure (e.g., Band 4 = 68 to 91 days to maturity). The standard trading amount is RM5 million, and it is actively traded in the secondary market. This instrument represents the short-term interest rate in the Malaysia money market. The high or low interest rate will make bonds look more attractive than stock and consequently impact the stock price return. Sub-sector Price Index Major sub-sector prices index are the 10 majors sub-sector price index consist of Consumer, Plantation, Finance, Trading and Services, Industrial, Industrial Products, Construction, Mining, Properties, and Technology. Each index is representing overall performance instituted on sub-part of FBM KLCI index. CHAPTER 2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction This chapter provides a comprehensive review on the empirical evidences on four (4) variables and the theories on Arbitrage pricing Theory (APT) model and Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH). It will provide a better understanding of the relationship between variables and sub-sector component indices performance. 2.2 Macroeconomic Factors Choo, Lee and Ung (2011) investigates the behavior of Japanese stock market volatility with respect to a few macroeconomic variables including gold price, crude oil price and currency exchange rates (Yen/US$). The authors using the performance of GARCH models and Ad Hoc methods to carried out a comparison study. Their results show that macroeconomic variables used in this study have no impact on the volatility of Japanese stock markets and the simplest GARCH (1, 1) model yields the best result. Maysami et al. (2004) study on relationship between macroeconomic variables and stock market indices: co-integration Evidence from Stock Exchange of Singapores All-S Sector Indices and based on the study concludes that the Singapores stock market and the property index form co-integrating relationship with changes in the short and long-term interest rates, industrial production, price levels, exchange rate and money supply. 2.3 Crude oil Based on the past study from Huang et. Al, (1996), they found that oil future returns do not have much impact on SP 500 Index. On the other hand, Al-Rjoub,Samer Am* (2005) investigated the effect of oil price shocks in the U.S. for 1985-2004 using VAR Mixed Dynamic and Granger Causality Approaches to study the whether the U.S. stock market react to the oil shocks, a big importer of crude oil. They found that from VAR suggests that oil shock affect the stock market returns in the U.S. oil price are important in explaining the stock market reactions. According to Basher Sadorsky (2006), oil is the lifeblood of modern economies and can have significant impact on the growth of a countrys economy. In addition, Driesprong, Jacobsen and Maat (2004) found that investors in stock markets under react to oil price changes in the short run. Recent study by Charles (2009) found that higher volatility in both gold price and oil price reduces volatility of stock price. Some studies directly tested the relationship between oil prices and stock values. Huang, Masulis and Stoll (1996) applied vector autocorrelation models to find the time-series relationship and concluded that crude oil futures lead stock prices of oil companies. However, they were unable to bring a conclusion for any significant relationship to other stock prices. In addition, the volatilities of crude oil futures lead the volatilities of oil industry stock index. A related study (Sadorsky, 1999) had different conclusion. It showed that oil prices as an important factor which predicts stock prices very well. Sadorsky (2003) used vector autocorrelation model to verify the importance of oil price, federal fund rate, CPI, fo reign exchange as variables to describe the performance of technology stock prices. Hamilton (2008) examines the factors responsible for changes in crude oil prices and the statistical behavior of oil prices. The study includes the role of commodity speculation, Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), and resource depletion and found that although scarcity rent made a negligible contribution to the price of oil in 1997, the situation at present would be different and crude oil prices might play an important role. 2.4 Gold Melvin and Sultan (1990) consider a different approach of establishing the relationship between gold and oil markets. Their study was based on the implication of the gold prices through the export revenue channel. As gold is an integral part of the international reserve asset of several countries, including the oil producing countries, their finding reveal that stock shock will leads to expectations of official gold purchases and this in turn will make the expected future price of gold to soar higher. Sultan (1990) argue that when oil price rises, the oil exporters countries will benefit in terms of higher oil revenues. This in turn may have implications on the price of gold especially when the gold consists of a significant share of the asset portfolio of oil exporters (relative to other nations) and oil exporters purchase gold in proportion to their wealth. The impact on this will lead to an increase in demand for gold and subsequently rise in price of gold and ultimately an oil pr ice rise leads to a rise in gold price. Ismail et al. (2009) develop a forecasting model for gold prices using Multiple Linear Regression Method to predict gold prices based on economic factors such as inflation, currency price movements and others. They argue that investor starts to invest their asset in gold because of depreciation of US dollar currency and gold as an important stabilizing role for investment portfolios. based on their findings, they conclude that many factors determine the price of gold and several economic factors such as Commodity Research Bureau future index (CRB); USD/Euro Foreign Exchange Rate (EUROUSD); Inflation rate (INF); Money Supply (M1); New York Stock Exchange (NYSE); Standard and Poor 500 (SPX); Treasury Bill (T-BILL) and US Dollar index (USDX) were considered to have influence on the gold prices. 2.5 T-bill (short term interest Rate) T-Bill rate is a benchmarking for short-term interest rate and is deemed as risk free. As such, T-Bill rate is normally taken into consideration for financial valuation purpose and widely used by financial institutions and academics especially to determine the fair value of stock pricing. Chan et al. (1992) reaffirmed that the short-term riskless interest rate is one of the most fundamental and important prices determined in financial markets. In referred to Damodaran (2002) published textbook Investment Valuation: Tools and Techniques for Determining the Value of Any Asset, Choice of risk-free security the returns on both Treasury bill (t-bills) and treasury bonds (t-bonds), and the risk premium for stocks can be estimated relative to each other. This was based on the yield curve in the US that has been on upward-sloping for most of the past seven decades. The risk premium is larger when estimated relative to short-term government securities (such as Treasury bills). Damodaran (2002) also stated that the risk risk-free rate chosen in computing the premium has to be consistent with the risk-free rate used to compute expected returns. So, if the Treasury bill rate is taken into consideration as a risk-free rate, the premium has to be earned by stock over that rate. This applies to the Treasury bond rate as well and premium has to be estimated relative to that rate. He also mentioned that for the most part, in corporate fi nance and valuation, the risk-free rate will be a long-term default free (government) bond rate and not a Treasury bill rate. Thus, the risk premium used should be the premium earned by stocks over Treasury bonds. 2.6 FBM Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) The FBM KLCI is taken as a proxy to represent the market growth optimal portfolio. This research paper attempt to construct and compare various total-return world stock indices based on daily data. The data was collected from DataStream Advance cover the period from 01 January 1973 to 31 August 2006. Due to the diversification, these indices are noticeably similar. This proposed method of constructing a proxy for the growth optimal portfolio has specific advantages over the methodologies of diversity weighting and market capitalization weighting. The diversified world stock index has applications to derivative pricing and investment management. Petttengill et al. (1995) developed a conditional relationship between return and beta that depends on whether the excess return on the market index is positive or negative. When the excess return on the market index is positive (negative), there should be a positive (negative) relationship between beta and return. Their empirical results support the conclusion that there is a positive and statistically significant relationship between beta and realized returns. Furthermore, consistent with Hodoshima et al. (2000), the results are similar when the test is done on 20 beta sorted portfolios. However, it seems that the negative relationships during down market are steeper in Tokyo Stock Exchanges (TSE), which seems to have contributed to have negative rewards for holding beta risk in the long run. Consistent with the findings of Pettengill et al. (1995) in the USA and Hodoshima et al. (2000) in the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), the result found that there is a significantly positive relat ionship between portfolio beta and portfolio return during up markets and the relationship is significantly negative during down markets. Moreover, the test of individual stock return shows that this conditional relationship can even be seen in individual stock returns. That is, there is a significantly positive (negative) relationship between individual stock beta and individual stock return up (down) markets. However, the results of the study suggest that the beta-return relation, in the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), seems to be negatively steeper during down markets, which seems to have contributed to have a negative reward for holding beta risk even in periods where the average market excess return is positive. Therefore, in conclusion, the results suggest that, though the slopes during down markets seem to be steeper than up markets, there seems to have a conditional relationship between beta and return, which justifies the continued use of beta as a measure of market risk. 2.7 Arbitrage Pricing Theory (APT) The Capital Asset Pricing Method (CAPM) is a single factor model it specific risk as a function of only one factor, the securitys beta coefficient. CAPM has been considered as one of the main tools to study for the risk-return trade-off assets. CAPM has been widely referred and used in academic research and business financial studies. As long as the return for any asset is interrelated to one variable with its market beta, or the systematic risk, it is defined as the covariance of an assets return and the market return. CAPM implies that expected returns and market beta exists, and only market beta that efficiently exanimate the time series and cross-sectional tests for asset returns. CAPM has its restrictions, assume investors are rational and based on several assumptions that were not practical in the real world. According to empirical studies by Fama and MacBeth (1973), there are several variables e.g. the market value of equity ratio (MVE), the earnings to stock price ratio (E/P), and the book-to-market equity ratio that having greater influence compare to market beta. Another study was carried out by Ross (1976) on the Arbitrage Pricing Theory (APT) which was considered a new modeling for CAPM. Ross refute through Arbitrage Pricing Theory (APT) that market beta is not the only variable to measure the systematic risk. There are multiple variables that have an effect on the stock returns beside market beta. The study tested on systematic, unconditional, and positive trade-off between average returns and beta. Perhaps the risk-return relationship is more complex, with a stocks required return a function more than one factor. For example, what if investors, because personal tax rate on capital gain are lower than those on dividends, value capital gains more highly than dividends. Then, if two stocks had the same market risk, the stock paying higher dividend would have the higher required rate of return. In that case, required returns would be a function of two factors, market risk and dividend policy. The Arbitrage Pricing Theory (APT) can include any number of risk factors. So the required rate of return could function of two, three, four or more factors. The Arbitrage Pricing Theory (APT) is based on complex mathematical and statistical theory that goes far beyond the scope for discussion in this paper. Even though the Arbitrage Pricing Theory (APT) model is widely discussed in academic literature, the practical usage to date has been limited. The concepts of Arbitrage Pricing Theory (APT) which assume that all stocks return depend on only three factors: Inflation, industrial productions, and the aggregate degree of risk aversion (the cost of bearing risk, it was assume that this will be reflected in the spread between the yields on Treasury and low-grade bonds). The primarily theoretical advantage of the Arbitrage Pricing Theory (APT) is that it permits several economic factors to influence individual stock returns, whereas the CAPM assumes that the effect of all factors, except those unique to the firm, can be captured in a single measure fewer assumptions than the CAPM and hence is more general. Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) The Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) was developed by Professor Eugene Fama. He said that an efficient capital market theory is one in which security prices adjust rapidly to the arrival of new information and, therefore, the current prices of securities should be reflected all information about the security. In simple terms, it means that no investor should be able to employ readily available information in order to predict stock price movements quickly enough so as to make a profit through trading shares. If markets are efficient, stock price will rapidly reflected all available information. There are different types of information available to incorporate into stock prices. Financial theorist have been developed the three form of market efficiency. There are three common forms in which the efficient-market hypothesis is commonly statedweak-form efficiency, semi-strong-form efficiency and strong-form efficiency, each of forms has different implications for how markets work. In weak-form efficiency, future prices cannot be predicted by analyzing prices from the past. The abnormal return cannot be earned in the long run by using investment strategies solely depend on historical data share prices. Moreover, technical analysis techniques will not be able to consistently produce an abnormal profit, though some forms of fundamental analysis may still provide excess returns. In semi-strong-form efficiency, it is implied that share prices adjust to publicly available new information very rapidly and in an unbiased fashion, such that no excess returns can be earned by trading on that information. Semi-strong-form efficiency implies that neither fundamental analysis nor technical analysis techniques will be able to reliably produce abnormal return. However, in strong-form efficiency, share prices reflect all information, public and private, and no one can earn excess returns. If there are legal barriers to private information becoming public, as with insider trading laws, strong-form efficiency is impossible, except in the case where the laws are universally ignored. CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY This chapter provides an outline of the research process designed to investigate the relationship between economic variables and Sub-sector price index. 3.1 The Data In this section, we will summarize our models data and present the methodology of our model. The daily data for interdependent and dependable variables e.g. FBM KLSE (Kuala Lumpur Composite Index), T-Bill band 4, Crude oil WTI (West Texas Intermediate) price, London Bullion Market (LBM) (U$ Troy Ounce) price, and Sub-sector Price Index are collected from the DataStream and cover from period 17/04/2000 to 18/04/2011. There are 2610 daily observations obtained from DataStream. The data set is given in the Appendix of this paper. In relation on this, dependable variable are consists of ten (10) majors price index e.g., Consumer Product, Plantation, Finance, Trading and Services, Industrial, Industrial Products, Construction, Mining, Properties, and Technology. As can be seen from figure 1, there is an increasing trend on global gold price and reached its the highest point, $ 1,492.06, on 18th April, 2011. The gold price was tending to increased since year October, 2008. We believe this trend will continues increasing due to strong demand and short supply gold in the commodities market. Moreover, some expertise research firms like GFMS, a leading global precious metals consultancy, released its 2011 Gold Survey and GFMS expects that gold will reach $1,600 by the end of 2011. Another independent variable, Crude oil WTI (West Texas Intermediate) price known as Texas light sweet, is a type of crude oil used as a benchmark in oil pricing. As refer to figure 2, the oil price increase significantly during year 2007 and the reasons behind can be explained by the Asian growing demand on oil to sustain their economy growth. The past researchers also been reported, that oil consumption in India was increased approximately 8.7% according 1998 and 6.5% according to 2006. Mehmet Eryigit (2009) has studied and found that in year 2007, USA has been consumed the 23.9% of the total oil, however total share of the world oil consumption for China, India and Turkey in 2009 is only accounted 13.4% (China consumed 9.3%, India consumed 3.3%, and Turkey consumed 0.8%). Meanwhile, back to middle of year 2008 Sub-prime crisis was happened in U.S financial system and the crude oil price has reached to a minimum price $31, that is a minimum last trader price was reported since year 2004. After decreasing trend along the year 2008, early of 2009 crude oil price are at the recovery stages and maintained a reasonable price between $ 65 -$ 100 per barrels. We expect the crude oil price bullish will continue increasing. The next independent variable is Market returns FBM Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI). The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) is used as a proxy for the performance of the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange and comprises the largest 30 companies listed on the Main Board by full market capitalization. The last independent variable is T-Bill band 4. T-Bill band 4 is type of money market instrument. The Malaysian Treasury Bills (MTB) issued by the Central Bank of Malaysia Are tradable on yield basis (discounted rate) based on bands of remaining tenure (e.g., Band 4 = 68 to 91 days to maturity). This instrument are represents the short-term interest rate in the Malaysia money market. The high or low interest rate will make bonds look more attractive than stock and consequently impact the stock price return. Figure 1: London Bullion Market (LBM) (U$ Troy Ounce) Price Figure 2: Crude Oil WTI (West Texas Intermediate) Price 3.2 Conceptual Framework 1. Crude Oil WTI 2. London Bullion Market (LBM) (U$Troy Ounces) 3. KLSE (Kuala Lumpur Composite Index) 4. T-Bill Band 4 Sub Sector Price Index Consumer Product, Plantation, Finance Trading and Services, Industrial, Industrial Products, Construction, Mining, Properties, and Technology.The conceptual framework of this study was derived from literature review where proven macroeconomic variables like FBM Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) are used as independent variables. The Crude oil WTI (West Texas Intermediate) future contract price, London Bullion Market (LBM) (U$ Troy Ounce) price, and T-bill band 4 had been widely used in evaluating a significant statistical rel

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

The Policy of Appeasement Essay -- Analysis, Neville Chamberlain

This essay analyses the responsibility of Neville Chamberlain and his highly controversial Appeasement theory which hypothetically prevented the outbreak of the Second World War. The policy of Appeasement epitomised by the Munich agreement, is a pact signed in 1938 between Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Italy, which allowed Hitler to annex Czechoslovakia’s Sudetenland (area along Czech borders) to prevent the onset of a major war. Appeasement has been drastically criticised since it ended in a â€Å"humiliating failure† when Germany attacked Poland in 1939 (McDonough, 2002). This essay also evaluates two significant appraisals of the Munich agreement, described in McDonough’s (2002) exhaustive book: a first, which asserts that it was an utterly unwholesome policy of despicable capitulation and a second, instigated by the ‘revisionist historians’ — exemplified by Taylor’s (1963) controversial book — which comprehends it a s an elaborated policy enabling Chamberlain to prevent an imminent war while he was opportunely preparing for it (McDonough, 2002). This essay concurrently criticises and evaluates these assessments of Chamberlain’s contentious acts, since each of them imply one consequent solution which could have impeded the suddenly onset of the war. Two core solutions are therefore criticised below: first that Chamberlain should have initially constrained Hitler’s desire for Lebensraum — German desire to enlarge their living space — and second, that Chamberlain should have maintained his appeasement policy (McDonough, 2002). Since Trevor-Roper (1961) and Bullock (1998) (both cited in McDonough, 2002) assert in their analytical and exhaustive books that confronting Hitler earlier could have avoided war, the appeasement th... ...reak of the second world war depends therefore on whether Hitler had the genuine intention to conquer the world (‘Hitlocentric interpretation’) or was simply a master of opportunism (‘Revisionist historians’). Whereas some argue that appeasement and the Munich agreement caused the outset of the war, ‘Revisionist historians’ assert that the radical change of policy which occurred after the invasion of Poland was a great opportunity that Hitler did not hesitate to seize. This evaluation is therefore more ideological than empirical since the lack of convincing evidence impede historians to reach a consensus. However, blaming Chamberlain for the beginning of the war is unreasonable since he did not have access to the information we have — interpretation of the pas could be influenced by the moral judgements some would have when examining Hitler’s actions (Taylor, 1963).

Monday, August 19, 2019

Every Child Counts :: Teaching Education Careers Essays

Every Child Counts Growing up I loved being surrounded by children. Looking back on my earlier years, I realize that teaching has always been a desire of mine. As a child I read to my dolls, pretended to be a teacher to my friends, and baby-sat every opportunity that arose. No matter what the situation was, if there were children involved, you could count me in. I love the feeling of being around children; the joy they bring to a room is what makes them so special. Children are wonderful beings that make me laugh and realize how precious life can be. I have chosen to teach elementary age students because these are the most crucial years they will encounter as they are shaping who they will become. I believe I am taking my God-given gift of loving others, especially children, and using it to benefit the people around me. So many students are neglected, ignored, and abused because people fail to see their worth. I know that kids are creative, spontaneous, loving human beings and they have a hunger to learn. I feel I have many gifts to offer these children and hope I can have a true impact on their lives. My hope is to learn about each individual and touch them each in different ways. I know I will have classrooms filled with diversity but it will be a priority to learn something unique of each student. One thing I have noticed that happens a lot in our world is prejudices. Children are so vulnerable to different cultures and are quick to make judgments. It is my job to teach my students about these different cultures so when they see someone unlike themselves they will not make fun of them. Instead I want these children to be curious and willing to understand why people are different because it is what makes our world unique. While I am learning about them, my hope is that they are willing to learn about each other as well. I hope to unite children of all cultures by teaching them to be curious about others, learn about them, and appreciate their differences. In doing this maybe we can stop some of the prejudices they may have and build a loving community of people who think about each other instead of only themselves.