Econmet Paper

Christian Benedict B. ARGA 11027614 AE-FIN A Study on the Effect of Inflation, Net Income, and Energy Use to the Fossil Fuel Consumption in the Philippines An Empirical Paper Presented to The Faculty of the School of Economics De La Salle University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements in ECONMET Submitted by: Christian Benedict B. Arga 11027614 Submitted to: Dr. Cesar Rufino December 14, 2012 1 Christian Benedict B. ARGA 11027614 AE-FIN Table of Contents Introduction I. II. III. IV. Background of the Study Statement of the Problem Objectives of the Study Scope and LimitationsReview of Related Literature I. II. III. Inflation Net Income Energy Use Operational Framework I. II. Variable Descriptions A-Priori Expectations Methodology I. II. Data Gathered Model Specifications Empirical Results and Interpretation I. II. Variable Analysis Critical Assumptions 2 Christian Benedict B. ARGA 11027614 AE-FIN 1. Multicollinearity 2. Homoscedasticity 3. Non-autocorrelation Remedial Measures and Adjusted Estimated Econometric Model I. II. Remedial Measures Adjusted Econometric Model Conclusions and Recommendations Bibliography Data Presentation 3 Christian Benedict B.ARGA 11027614 AE-FIN Introduction I. Background of the Study In this empirical paper, the researcher aims to know the effects of net income, inflation and energy use on the consumption of fossil fuels in the country. This project will allow the student to use various econometric concepts and a variety of tests to determine the factors that will allow him a practical approach on the subject. Fossil fuel as defined by Encyclopedia Britannica is â€Å"any of a class of materials of biological origin occurring within the Earth’s crust that can be used as a source of energy. It is a hydrocarbon containing natural resource that is not acquired from plants or animals. Fossil fuel is a general term for buried combustible geologic deposits of organic materials, formed from decayed plants and animals that ha ve been converted to crude oil, coal, natural gas, or heavy oils by exposure to heat and pressure in the earth's crust over hundreds of millions of years. The depletion of fossil fuel has been an underlying problem in our economy. Unlike energy coming from hydroelectric power plants or windmills, the energy acquired from fossil fuel cannot be renewed and is gone forever. Christian Benedict B. ARGA 11027614 AE-FIN II. Statement of the Problem As said earlier, fossil fuel is a non-renewable energy source. All countries in the world are trying their best to conserve their respective resources. The problem in this empirical project is that whether various factors such as inflation, net income, and energy use of the country has an effect on its consumption of fossil fuels. III. Objectives of the Study There are various objectives to this study. First is to find out whether inflation, net income, and energy use has an effect on a country’s consumption on fossil fuels.Second, is to educate the readers of this paper which of the independent variables affects the consumption of fossil fuel the most. And lastly, this paper aims to apply the various lessons learned in class to show the effects of the chosen variables on the fossil fuel consumption. 5 Christian Benedict B. ARGA 11027614 AE-FIN IV. Scope and Limitations The data gathered that was used in this project was limited and only allowed the researcher to gather up to 35 observations because some variables lack values for previous years. Because of this reason, the sample size is relatively small and cannot be compared to other countries for reference.Review of Related Literature I. Inflation Inflation is defined by Investopedia, as the rate at which the general level of prices for goods and services is rising, and, subsequently, purchasing power is falling. Central banks attempt to stop severe inflation, along with severe deflation, in an attempt to keep the excessive growth of prices to a minimum. Inflatio n has affected the rate of many products at which they are consumed. For this project, we will find out if inflation has an effect on the consumption of fossil fuels. We want to find out if people would 6Christian Benedict B. ARGA 11027614 AE-FIN consume more or less if the prices of fossil fuel has been affected by inflation. II. Net Income Net income, as learned in the student’s business subjects, is the money left after subtracting expenses and other deductibles like taxes and interest to the total revenue. We will observe if net income has an effect on fossil fuel consumption. Maybe, a higher net income may lead the consumer to consume more or perhaps, a lower net income may get the consumer to find other sources of energy which may be cheaper than fossil fuel. III. Energy UseFossil fuel burning powers our vehicles and industries, heats and cools our buildings, and runs appliances. It also produces electricity that we use for all sorts of purposes, such as lights and comp uters. This is quite obvious because as we consume more energy, the more fossil fuel we burn and vice versa. 7 Christian Benedict B. ARGA 11027614 AE-FIN Operational Framework I. Variable Description The model will contain the following components, the dependent variable and the independent variables. The independent variables are those that are exogenous in nature. It is not affected by any variable contained within the model.The dependent variable, on the other hand, is endogenous in nature. It is affected by all the independent variables in the model. For this project, there will be three independent variables namely; inflation, netincome, and energy while the dependent variable will be fossil. Table 1 : Variable Description This is the independent variable. This is the fossil fossil fuel consumption of the Philippines from the years 1977 until 2011. It is expressed in percentage. 8 Christian Benedict B. ARGA 11027614 AE-FIN This is a dependent This is GDP variable. measured infl ation by the deflator from 1977 up to 2011.This variable is expressed in the annual percentage. This is a dependent is the variable. This yearly total income of our country from 1977 until netincome 2011. We can see that the data has negative values. This is due to the data being in BoP expressed in US$. This is a dependent is the variable. energy yearly This energy of from the 1977 consumption Philippines until 2011. This variable 9 Christian Benedict B. ARGA 11027614 AE-FIN is expressed in kilotonnes. II. A-Priori Expectations The A-Priori is a smart justification before actual testing and analysis is done with the data. Given that the fossil fuel onsumption is the dependent/endogenous variable, we will take a look at the relationship of this with the independent/exogenous variables. This will be presented in the table below: Table 2: A-Priori Expectations Endogenous Variable: fossil Exogenous Variable Relationship Reason As inflation goes up, the prices of fossil fuel goes up too therefore, the consumption of fossil fuel will be reduced. People will try to find cheaper sources of energy and maybe renewable ones are a good try. inflation negative 10 Christian Benedict B. ARGA 11027614 AE-FIN netincome positive energy positiveAs netincome increases, there will be more money to spend therefore it may affect the consumption of fossil fuel positively. People will tend to buy more goods like food which requires electricity to cook. As energy consumption goes up, there will be more and more fossil fuel that will be consumed. Most of the world's energy source comes from fossil fuels. Therefore, as people tend to consume more energy, more fossil fuel is going to be burned up. Methodology I. Data Gathered The data gathered has been acquired from the databank of the World Bank’s website. The data is from the Philippines dating back from 1977 until 2011.There are a total of 35 observations. This is due to the reason that some of the variables lack data from 1976 and further back. So to keep the consistency of this project, only 35 observations per variable has been used. This is to ensure that the 11 Christian Benedict B. ARGA 11027614 AE-FIN data is unbiased and comparable to each other. Presented in the table below is the data summary from Stata12: II. Model Specifications The regression model to be formed will be based on intuition, economic theories, conducted studies and research materials related to the objectives of this paper.The independent variables chosen will all be affecting the dependent variable, profits, proportionately; therefore, it is appropriate to use the lin-lin model or the linear-linear model. The estimated econometric model based on the A-priori expectations would look like this: fossil=? 1 +? 2 inflation+? 3 netincome+? 4 energy+U i 12 Christian Benedict B. ARGA 11027614 AE-FIN Empirical Results and Interpretation I. Estimated Econometric Model The summarization table earlier confirms that there are truly a total of thirty-five observations for each variable.The data can therefore be regressed and is comparable for there are equal numbers of observations per variable included in the estimated model. However, in order to determine the individual contribution of each variable, the values should be in terms of the same unit of measurement. The model has been transformed into the Log-Log model so that the data is comparable to each other. Stata12 generated the missing values. Using the Ordinary Least Squares regression functionality of Stata12, the following table has been generated which will lead us to acquire our estimated econometric model: 13 Christian Benedict B. ARGA 11027614AE-FIN The estimated model is now: fossil=-2. 324895. 0168192inflation+. 0182493netincome+. 5711335energy+U i From doing the Ordinary Least Squares regression, we are actually looking at the p-values and the r-squared values. The pvalue will tell us the significance of the variable while the r-squared will tell us the explanatory ability. The significant parameters in the data are the netincome, energy, and the constant. We could say that these parameters are significant because when the p-value generated by Stata12 is generated by two, the p value falls below the required value of 0. 05. The r-squared of the data is at 0. 349 or 93. 49%. This tells us that this data explains that the data is a good fit for the real world because it explains 93. 49% of the real world model. II. Variable Analysis Given the independent variable, fossil, and the independent variables, it is given that for every 1 unit increase in inflation, fossil fuel consumption would go down by 0. 0168912%. This gives inflation a negative relationship with fossil fuel consumption and 14 Christian Benedict B. ARGA 11027614 AE-FIN thus matches with our A-priori expectation. Next, for every 1 unit increase in net income, fossil fuel consumption will go up by 0. 182493%. This satisfies our A-priori expectation that net income has a positive relationship with fossil fuel consumption. Energy is also proven to give a positive relationship with fossil fuel consumption. This is given by its coefficient of 0. 5711335. So this means that for every 1 unit increase in energy use, fossil fuel consumption goes up by 0. 5711335% which also satisfies our Apriori expectation. Now for the constant, which has a coefficient of 2. 324895, tells us that if nothing happens with inflation, net income, and energy use, fossil fuel consumption still goes down by 2. 324895%.Although it is a fantasy that there will nothing happen with inflation, net income, and energy, there may be missing factors which were not included in this project. III. Critical Assumptions Classical linear regression models (CLRM) have three critical assumptions ? non-multicollinearity, homoscedasticity and nonautocorrelation. Violations of these will each give up an unfavorable, unreliable and inaccurate outcome for the estimated model. It is for these reasons that the above interpretation of the 15 Christian Benedict B. ARGA 11027614 AE-FIN model could not be used yet to conclude anything regarding the consumption of fossil fuel. . Multicollinearity, as defined by Penn State University, is an event whenever two or more of the predictors in a regression model are moderately or highly correlated. To test for multicollinearity, the Variable-Inflating Factor will be used. Shown below is the result generated by Stata12: There is multicollinearity within the model if the Mean Variance-Inflating Factor is greater than 10. From the result generated by Stata12, the Mean VIF is 1. 08. This value is very far from 10 therefore, the model does not possess the problem for multicollinearity. 2.Homoscedasticity Homoscedasticity means that the variance around the regression line is constant for all X values. Heteroscedasticity are most commonly present in cross-section data. When 16 Christian Benedict B. ARGA 11027614 AE-FIN heteroscedasticity is present , OLS is no longer the best linear unbiased estimate; therefore, violation of this assumption is a far graver problem than the violation of non-multicollinearity. The researcher used Stata12 to test for homoscedasticity. Using the variables above for the test, Stata12 gave the result as follows: Given that our H o : P-Value (one-tailed) > 0. 5: constant variance and H A : P-Value (one-tailed) < 0. 05: non-constant variance, Stata12 yielded a p-value of 0. 3693. Because the pvalue that was acquired is greater than 0. 05, we accept the null hypothesis which states that our OLS has a constant variance and thus, is not suffering from heteroscedasticity. 3. Non-autocorrelation Another critical assumption of the CLRM is non- autocorrelation. Autocorrelation is the correlation between the past and present value of the data. This violation is commonly 17 Christian Benedict B. ARGA 11027614 AE-FIN present in time series data because of the sluggishness of economic variables.The presence of a utocorrelation will result to OLS not being the best linear unbiased estimate, although it is still unbiased, constant, asymptotically normal and sufficient. R–squared are overestimated, t-values F-values and x 2 are all wrong, all leading to counter-intuitive signs. The root cause of all these errors will be coming from the standard errors being underestimated. This will result to wrong policy implementation and misleading inferences. For this, the researcher used the Breusch-Godfrey LM test for autocorrelation. The result can be seen below: Given that our H o : P-Value (one-tailed) > 0. 5: no serial correlation and H A : P-Value (one-tailed) < 0. 05: with serial correlation, Stata12 yielded a p-value of 0. 1119 which is greater than 0. 05 thus, we accept the null hypothesis that there is no serial correlation in the model. Although the data has been tested through the BreuschGodfrey LM test for autocorrelation, we still need to test it 18 Christian Benedict B. ARGA 11027614 AE-FIN furthermore but now through the Durbin-Watson d statistic test. The Breusch-Godfrey test has been done first because it is preferred by statisticians for auto correlation testing.Now for the results of the Durbin-Watson: The result for the Durbin-Watson yielded a value of 0. 6512995. As learned through the course, autocorrelation exists if the result is close to 0 or 4. The model possesses positive autocorrelation if the yielded d is close to 0. On the other hand, if d is closer to 4, the model experiences a negative autocorrelation. For the model to be autocorrelation free, the yielded d must be closer to 2 than 0 or 4. In this case, Stata12 returned a result which is closer to 0 which tells us that autocorrelation exists in the model.Because the assumption of no autocorrelation was violated, we must correct this by implementing remedial measures. 19 Christian Benedict B. ARGA 11027614 AE-FIN Remedial Measures and Adjusted Estimated Econometric Model I. Remedial Measure Bec ause the model was tested with positive autocorrelation above, a remedial measure is needed to be implemented to correct this. For this problem, it will be corrected through the use of the Prais-Winsten estimation. It is a procedure meant to take care of the serial correlation of type AR(1) in a linear model.It is a modification of Cochrane–Orcutt estimation in the sense that it does not lose the first observation and leads to more efficiency as a result. Stata12 could also apply this method whenever autocorrelation is detected through the Durbin-Watson testing. The results are as follows: 20 Christian Benedict B. ARGA 11027614 AE-FIN After the application of the Prais-Winsten estimation, we acquired a transformed Durbin-Watson statistic of 1. 206692. This value is closer to 2 compared to the original DW statistic of 0. 651299. Having this result, we can now safely say that the model now is autocorrelation free.II. Adjusted Econometric Model With the execution of the Prais-Wi nsten, the r-squared and the adjusted r-squared has changed together with the coefficients of the variables. With the transformed r-squared of 0. 9994, it has improved from the previous r-squared of 0. 9349. This means that the model now explains 99. 94% of the real world variance. Because of the Prais-Winsten transformation, we acquired new coefficients and thus we have our adjusted econometric model: fossil=-2. 956624. 0344159inflation+. 0145774netincome+. 6412211energy+U i The same concept still applies with our previous econometric model.The relationships between the dependent variable and the independent variables haven’t changed so that means that it still meets our A-priori expectation. 21 Christian Benedict B. ARGA 11027614 AE-FIN Conclusion and Recommendations Now that the model with fossil fuel consumption as its dependent variable; inflation, net income, and energy use as its independent variables, has now been empirically tested and that the concepts and skills th at have been learned in class have been applied, it is now time to supply in the conclusions and recommendations about the subject matter.Fossil fuel as said earlier is a non-renewable source of energy. Once that it has been burned up, it can never be acquired again. Unlike hydroelectric and wind energy sources, these are easily renewable through the resources provided by Mother Nature. Also, the burning of fossil fuel damages the ozone layer and increases the amount of greenhouse gases. It has been proven earlier that the A-priori expectations have been met. First I’d like to discuss the relationship of inflation and fossil fuel consumption. It is said above that fossil fuel consumption and inflation have a negative relationship.This means that whenever inflation goes up, the consumption of fossil fuel goes down. If the global economy wants to reduce the consumption of this non-renewable energy source and encourage people to turn to other sources of energy other than this, t aking advantage of the inflation may be a good idea. If fossil fuels’ prices like oil and coal have gone up due to the inflation, people may find it practical to switch to other sources of energy like solar, wind, or geothermal heat. 22 Christian Benedict B. ARGA 11027614 AE-FIN Fossil fuel consumption and net income has been proven to have a positive relationship.This is because whenever the net income of a household increases, they can afford more goods such as food and electric dependent devices which consumes more fossil fuel. If the net income on the other hand goes down, the consumption of fossil fuel also goes down. This is due to the fact that people tend to consume less when their income is lower. They buy less food and other goods which consume fossil fuel to be utilized. Energy use also has a positive relationship with the consumption of fossil fuel. Today, very few have switched to the use of renewable energy.There are very few houses that have solar panels to pow er up their household. Some industrial organizations have windmills and large solar panels that power up their buildings and machineries. But even though these alternative sources are more eco-friendly, it comes with a very large price tag. It is very expensive to switch to renewable energy sources than just plainly using fossil fuel for power. So this means that the more a household or organization use energy, more and more fossil fuel is burned and consumed. Fossil fuel is the most reliable source of energy today.If for example, a certain country would want to reduce its fossil fuel consumption, they can implement laws like to increase the taxes on fossil fuel so that people would be forced to switch to other energy resources. The use of fossil 23 Christian Benedict B. ARGA 11027614 AE-FIN fuel hasn’t really been a win for our planet. Burning fossil fuels release greenhouse gases which lead to the depletion of the ozone layer. Aside from this, fossil fuel may someday be bur nt out completely. Embracing other sources of energy which may be safe for the environment may be a good thing because fossil fuel will not last for a very, very long time. 4 Christian Benedict B. ARGA 11027614 AE-FIN Bibliography Gujarati, D. , &Porter, D. (2009). Basic econometrics. Singapore: McGrawHill/Irwin. Damassa, T. (n. d. ). Fossil Fuel Consumption and its Implications | World Resources Institute. World Resources Institute | Global Warming, Climate Change, Ecosystems, Sustainable Markets, Good 2, Governance 2012, & the from Environment. Retrieved December http://www. wri. org/stories/2006/11/fossil-fuel-consumption-and-itsimplications Data | The World Bank. (n. d. ). Data | The World Bank. Retrieved November 30, 2012, from http://data. worldbank. rg/ Fossil Fuels and Energy Use. (n. d. ). B. C. Air Quality – Home. Retrieved December 9, 2012, from http://www. bcairquality. ca/101/fossil-fuels. html Fossil | Department of Energy. (n. d. ). Energy. gov | Department of Energy. Retrieved December 5, 2012, from http://energy. gov/science- innovation/energy-sources/fossil 25 Christian Benedict B. ARGA 11027614 AE-FIN Data Presentation Year 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Fossil fuel energy consumption (% of total) 55. 31347732 54. 8931033 53. 78592188 49. 29623659 45. 48943701 43. 37568802 44. 38229089 35. 31123038 35. 76117547 36. 35431158 40. 26445038 41. 63311248 42. 63808088 43. 43920259 44. 68749999 48. 64714575 49. 75059198 52. 18039963 55. 84399353 56. 88793876 58. 26781808 56. 4225028 53. 69666356 53. 57196521 54. 87855853 56. 41898661 57. 72775356 56. 78790726 58. 16262043 56. 49811715 56. 71572428 57. 1050697 Inflation, GDP deflator (annual %) 8. 272875998 9. 331739787 14. 83954359 14. 24994909 11. 70313893 8. 701224356 14. 22188106 53. 3359576 17. 63285991 2. 952878059 7. 4981921 9. 647022877 9. 033063566 12. 9712 8127 16. 268799 7. 932658326 6. 832158129 9. 991314599 7. 550870238 7. 661037838 6. 224392022 22. 38172301 6. 585053049 5. 709799946 5. 54947782 4. 162229818 3. 201335984 5. 516871 5. 828020679 4. 949030524 3. 090323839 7. 549059634 Net income (BoP, current US$) -125000000 -118000000 -206000000 -420000000 -503000000 -1021000000 -836000000 -1449000000 -1300000000 -1301000000 -1190000000 -1185000000 -1349000000 -872000000 -500000000 445000000 924000000 1850000000 3662000000 3282000000 4681000000 3769000000 -1062000000 -30000000 -57000000 -430000000 -287000000 -74000000 -298000000 -1261000000 -899000000 105000000 26Energy use (kT) 20161. 985 20500. 008 21698. 546 22748. 27 22856. 792 23462. 731 25453. 089 22902. 456 24008. 288 24091. 214 25209. 039 26593. 306 27975. 579 28891. 831 28878. 767 30215. 561 30233. 992 32369. 158 33981. 925 35217. 379 37071. 776 38075. 904 39044. 627 40423. 602 38777. 981 39300. 931 39385. 191 39152. 811 39178. 35 38848. 861 38142. 364 39605. 368 Christian B enedict B. ARGA 2009 2010 2011 57. 04278229 57. 04278229 57. 04278229 2. 773246711 4. 222388865 4. 246089114 11027614 -193000000 505000000 1293000000 38842. 497 38842. 497 38842. 497 AE-FIN 27

Leadership Assessment

Leadership Assessment Leadership is defined as the process of influencing others to understand and agree about what needs to be done and how to do it, in order to accomplish what you set out to do. People often assume that anyone in a management position is a leader but I find that statement to be false. To be considered a leader, you must have very strong beliefs, and to work hard at your goal and stay focused. A Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is the highest ranked executive manager in a corporation and in my opinion one of the most important.A CEO can range from being the founder of a company, the owner of a business, or they have a great significance within the corporation. A CEO’s responsibility can vary depending on how involved he or she is within the corporation. Although there are many tasks at hand in which a CEO bears, such roles can include significant responsibility, accountability, and authority within the organization. CEO is also response for making sure that the vision, mission and overall direction is being followed through properly.Demonstrating these roles is vital to make sure that the organization’s mission is successful. At my previous employer, I worked for a company call Florida Light and Power (FPL) and although I only met our CEO on a few occasion his name was Armando J. Olivera, and his leadership style impacted me greatly. Mr. Olivera’s leadership style was charismatic style and he did it very well. He was always known as a person who had such an enthusiasm attitude and was always positive minded. Mr. Olivera always wanted to give back to people and teach people something new (Salisbury, 2011).His attitude made me want to come to work each day. Mr. Olivera started with the company with back in 1972 as an engineer trainee and became the CEO back in 2003. The CEO would always adhere to the standards and rules and he really set an example of how he expected his employees to act. He always projected himself in a busin esslike manner, and conformed to the rules. He was never the type of person to leave early just because he was the CEO or to take holidays off while the rest of the employees worked.He personally impacted me in a positive manner when I first started. The training period is an intention training that involves several classes that included videos to watch, and during those videos Mr. Olivera was actually in the videos speaking and explaining his vision and what he expects and his story of how he started out. The story really made me look at the company differently and because Mr. Olivera was all about how to make the customer happy and the great lengths that he would endear to make sure that that happened.In order to ensure that FPL employees were always on the right path the CEO would produce training videos for team development that displayed such qualities like integrity, drive, consideration, and self confidence. The CEO always made sure that his expectation was made to be clear a nd the vision and mission statements were followed through properly. FPL vision statement states as followed â€Å"we will be the preferred provider of safe, reliable, cost-effective products and services that satisfy the electricity related needs of all our customer segments† (â€Å"Fpls commitment to,†).Divisional structure was the type of organization structure at FPL. Since FPL was such a large company with over 10,000 employees in the state of Florida, we operated in a wide geographic area and targeted difference areas with difference specialized groups. This was a huge advantage to our company because it helps meet more rapid demands and is able to handle a larger division. This also helped the company move into other forms of energy sources that they could provide to customers. Within the organizational structure at FPL there are levels of hierarchy that distribute the responsibility within the organization.Divisional structure at FPL allows common culture to bu ild and contribute to a higher and better knowledge of the company and its services. (Gillikin) Ethical conduct refers to an organizations moral standards concerning the action of individual members and also the decisions of the organization as a whole. At FPL the CEO has placed this responsibility on to Human Resources to ensure that all employees were following the code of conduct and conducting themselves in the upmost professional manner; no employees including the CEO were exempted from this.As their ethical practices have become an economical benefit for the company, it also prevents disrespectful behavior, bullying between coworkers, prevention between personal phone calls at the companies expense, improper use of company equipment, and excessive sick days etc. The code of ethical conduct has greatly effected the way business is properly conducted. FPL strives to not only do the legal thing but the ethical thing as well in order to ensure our customers with satisfactorily ser vice.FPL has a public image to obtain as they are the largest energy provider in the state of Florida. Also unethical business can not only hurt a companies reputation, but it can prevent prospective employees from choosing to work for FPL. (Vossos) There are many ways to motivate employees, and may different techniques that seem to work better than others. First off the most motivating thing in the work place is money, so offering employees bonuses for reaching a mark or being the leader in sales with a nice bonus will encourage all the employees to work harder and better for the extra money.Many large companies do this to motivate such as google and Microsoft use this technique. Another way to motivate is offer extra time off or paid time off for the employee that has preformed the best for each quarter. The third way to motivate employees would to add some perks for them while they are at work such as child daycare or pay for any food they might want or have free drink machines. These are just a few ways to make the work space more enjoyable and move appealing for employees.The Hawthorne studies in the early nineteenth century examined and studied how managers can motivate employees to work more efficiently, with quality work at the maximum rate of return. One of the areas of information derived from the Hawthorne studies was that something more than pay incentives was improving the employees’ output within work groups. Researchers found that there was improvement in the work due to the fact that employees felt important because someone was studying them at work.One of the concepts that leaders can derive from this historic discovery is that leaders must find ways to motivate and reward their employees besides the perceived rewards of being employed and having a pay incentive. (Cook) Companies today are faced with a host of issues, which may cripple their functionality, or in some extreme cases render the organizations obsolete. For example Kodak onc e a leader and innovator in the photo industry but they fell behind and had to file for bankruptcy.These challenges are dependent on the nature of operations of the company, these challenges face a large amount of different organizations. Technological advancements today are on the increase more than in the previous century. Technology changing creates a problem for businesses because when technology changes the company has to stay up to date with the technology so they would have to teach all there employees how to run the new programs and buying the new technology can be very costly.Another problem companies face generational gaps have created a difficulty in determining consumer behaviors, yet most companies are investing heavily in customer behavior analysis to determine the most appropriate way of matching a customers’ needs. Once again times change and so do customers taste and opinions change and businesses need to stay current with the changes if not they will end up like Kodak. A problem that we can all relate to as of lately is unstable economies and currencies are another factor causing constant instability in the running of corporations.Though this has of late been caused by other external factors such as exchange rates, amount of exports and imports and political factors. There has been a relatively high incidence of economic instability in the recent past. The national economies are recovering from a global economic meltdown today, most organizations have been negatively affected by the meltdown leading to massive layoffs. There are many more challenges that many companies and leaders encounter when managing.Diversity can help organizations compete in global markets by having a plan of other ventures that will bring new technology or and item to the market when a company has more than one option to make money successfully will make the chances of that company higher for them to succeed. or example lets look at Fuji film they diversified th ere company by making lcd screens and medical companies just to name a few things fuji film did to keep there companies head above water.An effective business strategy to address these challenges such as the change in technologies, generation gap, and unstable economies. The first step would be to build a good tech team that can stay on top of the technology an help keep the companies technology up to date. Then the generation gap a company hat has developed great ways to bring in new generations would be google they have done a many things to keep young talented employees to continue to come work for them for a few reasons they build a different environment that draws the new generation in.They also make the work environment more relaxing and stress free. A good way for a company to tackle this issue would be to listen to younger employees ideas and add some relaxing eliminates such as a gym, swimming pool or shona which employees could relieve stress before or after work. Then pre pare for the unstable economies there is a few things that can help with this first being diversifying the companies assets look into other business ventures easier said then dont also expand the company into different economies. A company that has multiple, unrelated businesses.Unrelated businesses are those which require unique management expertise, have different end customers and produce different products or provide different services. One of the benefits  of being a diversified company  is that it buffers a company from dramatic fluctuations in any one industry sector. However, this model  is  also less likely to enable stockholders to realize significant gains or losses because it is not singularly focused on one business. Reference Cook, J. (n. d. ). Retrieved from http://thinkingleader. hubpages. om/hub/How-Google-Motivates-their-Employees-with-Rewards-and-Perks FPL’s commitment to quality. (n. d. ). Retrieved from http://www. fpl. com/about/quality/fpls_comm itment_to_quality. shtml (â€Å"Fpls commitment to,† ) Salisbury, S. (2011, December 19). Fpl's ceo to retire after 40 years; successor named. The palm beach post. (Salisbury, 2011) Gillikin, J. (n. d. ). Retrieved from http://smallbusiness. chron. com/advantages-disadvantages-divisional-organizational-structure-611. html (Gillikin) Vossos, T. (n. d. ). Retrieved from http://www. ehow. com/info_8660312_ethical-conduct-within-organization. html (Vossos)

Aniconic and Iconic Art in South Asian Art Essay

Aniconic and Iconic Art in South Asian Art - Essay Example Image No.4 is a sculpture known as the Bodhisattva of Ajanta from south-central India belonging to the 5th century CE, which is a possible representation of the Guptas’ golden age. This art form is an illustration of dynasty vs. region as it is brought out by local vs. foreign traditions. Image No.5 is an illustration of a large temple known as Ambh Sharif that is located on a salt range in West Punjab, Pakistan that was built in the 10th century AD. The building representation of the emphasis placed on dynasty vs. the importance of regional traditions. It is also a clear representation of the fluidity of iconography between water cosmology, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Islam. Image No.6 is a folio from the Kalpastura & Kalakacharya-Katha of northern India possibly from Delhi with the catalog No.1475. This art form represents religion, its influences on trade and conquest and its role as a pan-Asian connector. It illustrates the fluidity of architectural iconography among Hinduism, Jainism, and Islam. Image No.7 is a folio from the Harivamsa catalog No.1595 called Fatehpur Sikri or Agra of India. It belongs to the art of the Mughals, Rajputs and Deccani rulers’ period. In the context of this paper, this art form is a primary source of information regarding continuities and innovations of Islam in South Asia (DhÄ r and NMI 183). It is also a representation of the comparison between dynasties vs. regional traditions, the fluidity of iconography among Hinduism and Islam, and fluidity among the religious and secular realms. Image No.8 is a piece of art that is described as Karkhana 89 of natural pigments on Wasli Ca.2003, and it features on the contemporary trends section. Aniconism is the religious belief or practice that avoids or bans depiction of deities in art or other artistic expressions.

Women In US History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Women In US History - Essay Example difference. But they have seldom talked about race (ibid 251). While white feminists have engaged in universalizing women’s culture and oppression from white (basically middle class) women’s experience and thereby failed to separate their whiteness from their womanness, Afro-American history also failed to examine the differential class and gender positions men and women occupy in black communities thereby constructing the image of a monolithic black community. This history reverberates with a male voice and is based on the experience of men (ibid 255-56). The social context for the construction of race as a tool for black oppression is historically rooted in the institution of slavery (ibid 256). The slaves were defined by law as â€Å"animate chattel†; they constituted property as well as a social class and were exploited under a system that sanctioned and institutionalized white ownership of black bodies and black labor. Women were denied right to their own bodies and sexuality. Women’s bodies and sexuality was under white ownership and this was institutionalized. It formed and essential part of the system of subordination and exploitation. The children the female slaves gave birth to immediately became the property of the slave masters (ibid 257). It reminds me of Alice Walker’s â€Å"Meridian†, where Meridian’s mother explained to her that Emancipation to female slaves meant that they could retain their own children. In the eyes of the slaveholders, slave women were not mothers at all. They were merely instruments guaranteeing the growth of the slave labor force. They were classified as â€Å"breeders†, animals as opposed to mothers. Hence, their infant children could be sold away like â€Å"calves from cows†. Courts ruled that female slaves had no legal claims on their children (Davis 7). Hard labor in the fields from sunrise to sunset was the norm. Where work was concerned, strength and productivity under the threat of the whip

Changes in Technology and Criminal Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Changes in Technology and Criminal Law - Essay Example Nonetheless, custom software is elusive and not taxable. Different stats have developed specific laws that deal with the taxability of computer software transactions. There is so much attention to the changes Information Technology has brought to the criminal law practice. The domination of computers and the internet as well as the development of related electronics is changing and is expected to go on changing and due to this, other aspects of daily life are also affected and changing and particularly the practice of law. Information technology is a very tough, radical force that is pushing for changes in many areas of economy and these changes are paramount. Computers have come with development of a lot of things ranging from flow of information, gadgetry, crime and general sociability of people. The law has nor been spared by these changes and some aspect have seen drastic changes while others have remained relatively constant due to conservative of technology. Several aspects of law that have been affected include patent law, commercial law, and even tax laws. Patent law has not experienced a lot of changes. The US has explained in detail the way patents should be dealt with as well as computers from which these change in criminal law emerged (Noortwijk 2006). The Supreme Court is responsible for this. Copyright law is the most affected aspect of criminal law that draws these changes from the computer technology. The congress created a regulation that was supposed to take care of this issue (national commission on new technological uses of copyrighted works). Reproducing content or designing a program that is similar to another one wi thout the consent of the original creator is illegal yet with advancement in technology, this is very common. There are rules in place that address pre-computer copyright and formation of new laws in connection to computers. In terms of privacy, the law is very clear that selling or intentional exposure of people's personal infringes their privacy and hence it's illegal. Storage of large files of individual information on computers database is very risky. Government files are also a risk to privacy (Noortwijk 2006). There is federal statute on privacy in place. It's evident that the widespread changes in the practice of criminal law are as a result of technology and in particular, the advent of the computer. Most state laws and federal governments' regulation have passed laws that are aimed at curbing computer crimes. On the other hand computers have been very beneficial in the criminal investigations. The use of computer is thought to have refined the federal regulation of evidences as these rules are basically interpreted, assessed, and analyzed with regard to computer technolog

Development and Evaluation of Participant-centered Biofeedback Essay

Development and Evaluation of Participant-centered Biofeedback Artworks - Essay Example Research Question: Is there biofeedback that is associated with rap and hip-hop visual art and which depicts different experiences and reactions among individuals? If there is or isn’t a reaction, how does it relate to the mind – body experience? ABSTRACT (your descriptive summary of what the research article is about – write last – and write as if this paragraph was to be included as part of a literature review for a research paper) The concept of physiopsychology is one which is now being approached in society as an essential component of experiences in art work. Specifically, it states that there is an association with art and everyday life, as well as how this relates to both the mind and the body, as well as associations with experience and how this changes specific influences (Khut 2006: 24). Examining the mind – body influence in different pieces of art work also creates a different understanding of the importance of art while questioning wha t types of effects it has on individuals and society. This paper examines the mind – body effect and experiences in rap and hip – hop visual art as a genre as well as how this affects the individual experiences, interactions and reactions within society. This examination will help to further designate the way in which this genre is associated with behaviors, characteristics and concepts that are associated with the physiopsychology of hip hop visual arts. OVERVIEW Detailed Content Summary Purpose The purpose of this study is to show how the mind and the body link together in the creation of artwork. It also shows how specific aesthetical techniques link to the mind – body relationships and create a sense of reflecting experiences through the use of aesthetics. This will be done specifically with the mind – body link to hip hop and African – American visual arts as a genre, specifically because it carries a specific type of interactions and messages to society that might work positively or negatively with the mind – body experience. References The references to be used will be based on others which have studied the mind – body relationship to various types of artwork. This will be combined with studies that have been given in relation to hip hop and rap visual art which have shown the mind – body relationship. There will also be references in terms of the overall ways in which the physiopsychology is linked to art work, specifically to define and show the relationship with art and everyday life, as well as how different components affect the mind and body. Theoretical Frameworks The first theory used will be based on biofeedback. This states that there is a direct relationship to the mind and body because of the aesthetics that are defined within a given art work (Khut, 2006: p. 18). There will also be reference to this same theory in terms of somaaesthetics, which states that there are influences within e xperiences and which shows that there are practical relationships which can be determined when interacting with various types of artwork (Khut, 2006: p. 29). Another set of theories will be based on the concepts of cultural identities. This forms the individual experiences, behaviors and attitudes which are created and also build a specific type o

Business plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Business plan - Essay Example The main purpose and scope of this business plan is to provide general information about the said industry and to highlight the critical areas for successful launching of a new ticket selling point at Brent Street London. The data discussed in this study is based on some certain assumptions and has been collected through number of sources. A careful attempt has been made to present real time data in the study, however, this information may change at any time due to occurrence of any changes in associated factors, and thus the actual outcomes may differ from the projected results. 1. BUSINESS DESCRIPTION Doramex Ltd. is a famous travel agency located at 136 Brent Street, London. The small company has a vast experience of 64 years as working in the business since 1947. The average annual income of the company is around $54, 80,738. Doramex deals with customers belong to entire Europe, North American countries, and China from Asia (Company Profile Page). The company has decided to expan d its area of operations and for this it intends to set up an outlet ‘Express Ticketline’ in London. The new outlet will mainly deal with the selling of airline tickets to the customers at prices lower than the market rate. Although, Express Ticketline will expand its sphere of operations as well as target markets in future, however, initially it will operate as a ticket selling point for local population and the passengers of airline companies like British Airways, Virgin Atlantic Airways, EasyJet, and Atlantic Airlines etc. 1.1 Mission Statement To entertain our customers in terms of their budget, desire, and skill level. To ensure the sustaining of our customers through attractive packages and arrangements 1.2 Vision To go outshine in the field of selling cheap ticket by setting up strategic agreements with airlines, travel agencies, ground transport companies, and entertainment industry. 1.3 Objectives Express Ticketline is intended to meet the following objectives by the end of first financial year. Revenue (through selling of tickets) of $725,000. 25% of tickets will be sold online Maintain a margin of 08% on all airline tickets. 2. INDUSTRY AND MARKET ANALYSIS 2.1 External Factors on Travel Agencies The competitive marketing environment continuously changes, therefore a well thought-out, composed, detailed and consistent analysis is necessary for best evaluation. PEST analysis is considered as the best way to describe those external factors which cannot be directly catered by an organization. Despite of the fact that PEST analysis is used on the basis of previous data, interestingly it can be used as a forecast model (Wilson and Gilligan, 1998).   2.2 Political Factors Express Ticketline is a travel agency which is directly related to airline industry. Any internal or external change in the airline industry will directly affect our agency. The distressing incidents at the start of 21st century have turned out as the most difficult times f or the travel agencies. These incidents included the terrorist attacks in New York on September 11,

September 11th Attacks on the United States and How it changed my Personal Statement

September 11th Attacks on the United States and How it changed my outlook on Politics and world events - Personal Statement Example This attack generated hatred, depression, frustration and insecurity among the people. Every individual whether Muslim or non-Muslim has experienced a tough time after the 9/11 attack. Brutality rose to its peak in different countries that lead to discrimination. The political situation in U.S and other countries become worse. People live in fear and hesitate in exchanging their personal views regarding the prevailing political situations worldwide openly with others. U.S imposed a policy war against terrorism with the help of numerous countries in Muslim states. Its been 11 years since the attack took place and nothing has been gained so far except hatred, conflicts among nations and aggression. Inflation rose, which in turn lead to unemployment and poverty. Nations invested millions of dollars for the security of their borders to eliminate the risk of attack. Illegal activities such as drug smuggling, human trafficking, and pornography rose. I suffered a mental trauma that created a negative picture regarding different nations. The U.S economy faced budget deficits as they increased their investments in purchasing modern weapons to fight against terrorism. The Muslim community suffered more after the attack that lead to harassment, conflicts in religious practices and demoralization. This chain of events has changed my life in various ways, it has deeply affected my thinking and damaged my level of trust towards the government. The US government spends millions of dollars every year in upgrading their security systems and still 19 people armed with pocket knives could easily hijack 4 passenger planes and so easily crashed them into the twin towers and inflicted such a long-term tragedy that changed the history of mankind. Peace and harmony among nations has been taken out of peoples lives, and now they are living in fear and incursion. In my opinion the situation has become worse as it

Analysis of relationship marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Analysis of relationship marketing - Essay Example "All too often, many of us go to the dealer with the idea that we'll get the best deal for our money, only to be tricked and manipulated into paying more or buying a model that we don't want. In tact, African Americans consistently overpay--an average of $315 more than other car purchasers--according to a study done of 750,000 actual purchases in 1999 and early 2000 by the National Bureau of Economic Research" (Jackson, Car Buying 101: Buying a New Car in a Few Simple Steps, 2004: 195). The above mentioned statement automatically shows the importance of a website that provides a service through which a customer would buy a car that he/she wants and that with the terms decided, and there when the importance of Edmunds.com is identified, Edmunds.com includes all the data on the new and used cars, from features to the prices of cars, from test drive videos to the tips to maintain such cars, almost every thing appears on the website, including the ways through which "you" can become car's owner, it includes ownership plans, the leasing and all useful material. Few good features of the company include the information through the wireless edmunds.com, the site know as Edmunds2Go!, which is accesible through the PDAs and internet enabled cell phones, another benefit the visitors get is that the company circulates free email newsletters to its voluntary subscribers, another most thrilling feature that is used by the edmunds.com in the most impressive way is its true market value pricing tools, actually launched in the year 2000, "The Edmunds.com True Market Value New Vehicle Calculator provides the estimated average price consumers are currently paying when buying new vehicles. The Edmunds.com True Market Value Used Vehicle Appraiser estimates the actual transaction prices for used vehicles bought and sold by dealers and private parties" ( from Wikipedia, free encyclopedia). So it is the best what company can provide with in its limit to the visitors, the best outcome of launching such tool is that, people from all around the world now log in to find the actual prices of cars all around the world, it is perhaps the best service an automotive website can provide, it is considered to be the most innovative idea by the web operators to bring such a change in the website, the other such online services and tools include TMV new vehicle calculator which estimates the price that the buyers are paying to the dealer for the ownership of new vehicles, TMV finance rate estimator which gives the idea of how much of loan can be obtained and what is in relation to it and the ownership of car, Edmunds.com has another feature added recently which shows how much it would cost if the buyer would buy a car in full terms ownership, it is known as True Cost to Own SM

Talent Management Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Talent Management Strategy - Essay Example According to the report often it is observed that corporate environments are more goal specific and outcome oriented. It should however not be neglected that the path to the accomplishment of the aspired goals is the actual key to success. Treading this path with insight and taking care of all the factors that emerge within it gives organizations a smooth sailing to the target location.From this study it is clear that  organizations term the recruiting and handling of talented individuals as the most challenging task for an organizational setup. The better the employees of an organization get suited to the structural needs of the setup, the better it is for the growth of that particular corporate environment. This adoption and integration is often termed as talent management. â€Å"A major contributor is obviously your employees. Aligning the organization’s business strategy with its workforce is called talent management, and it involves aligning the right person with the r ight role with the right tools.†Ã‚  It is imperative that a specific approach should be adopted that would safeguard the needs of talented employees and would also harness their talents for the progressiveness of the organizational setup as a whole. Following discussion narrates a few strategically inevitable steps that may be termed as components of the talent management strategy.  It is essentially the first ever step in the making of any organizational set up that the organizational goals and strategy should be developed.... The progressive execution of these components assists the organization in treading towards leading endeavors. Figure 1 is a graphical representation of the Talent Management Strategy. Figure 1: Integrated Approach to Talent Management Strategy. ( Accenture Seven Imperatives for Achieving Dynamic Supply Chains. Copyright  © 2011 ) Planning Employee Assignments Strategically It is essentially the first ever step in the making of any organizational set up that the organizational goals and strategy should be developed. Employees who possess just the right talent for the organizational goals and the positions where there integration would be suited best should be identified. The identifications of the roles and individuals may reveal the need for the induction of more talented individuals with respect to the emerging needs. And in order to cover any gaps that may be present in the current setup. Harnessing Talent The identification, polishing and rightful embedding of the talent existin g within an organization is a very peculiar task indeed. If deficient in the required skills, talent hunt may need to be generated in order to bring in individuals that possess just the required talents. Sometimes the talent within the existing employees may be overshadowed by the tasks that they are presently assigned with. It is therefore recommended that the talent hunt should be done both within and outside the parent organization. Managing Performances The key concern of revolutionizing talent management with respect to every individual organization is that the employees’ performances should be managed in line with the strategy of the organization itself. Employees’ Motivation, Career

Iraq War Was Wrong Essay Example for Free

Iraq War Was Wrong Essay The Iraq war was a horrible thing. It caused many things to happen. I’m against going to war with them because there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq as the US government claimed. One of the main reasons listed by George W Bush for the war was to secure Iraqs chemical and biological weapons, which did not even exist. Secondly, there were no terrorists in Iraq, and Iraq had no connection to Sept. 11. We should have focused our resources in Afghanistan where the real terrorists were. Thirdly, we were underprepared for the occupation of Iraq and couldnt deal with the insurgency that followed. And lastly, the war was a huge waste of resources which the US gained nothing from. The United States lost over 1,040 American soldiers fighting in this war that we got nothing from. The war has hurt our country economically greatly. Over $151.1 Billion has been out towards the war. I feel since from this outcome that we shouldn’t have gone to war with them. It’s a hard thing to put our country through. Iraq was attacked by the United States in the year of 2003. The US went to war with Iraq, because on either the administration or disinformation, and the started reason have changed over the time. The main reason given by the administration of George W. Bush was that Saddam Hussein the leader of Iraq was engaged in having nuclear weapons. Many thought that Hussein might use these weapons to attack against The United States. One of the main reasons for the attacks on Iraq was to disarm them of any weapons of mass destruction that they have. This makes sense to prevent future terrorist attacks, but no weapons of mass destruction were in Iraq. Iraq did use weapons of mass destruction in the 1980’s but not since then. Almost all of Iraqs weapons of mass destruction were destroyed or otherwise made unusable in the 1990s. Also, Saddam wanted to stay in power. Using weapons of mass destruction would mean a sure end to his power. This calls into question whether or not invading Iraq was justified because the Bush administration should have known that weapons of mass destruction in Iraq were effectively contained. Because Iraq is effectively contained, it was no longer an imminent threat to the United States or any other countries anymore. Saddam Hussein had never threatened to attack the United States or to use weapons of mass destruction offensively. Sure, Iraqs surrounding countries such as Kuwait and Iran hated Saddam Hussein, but they were not afraid of him. They knew that Iraq was the weakest country in the region. Iraq had been weak and under control since the Gulf War and has not troubled its neighbors. If Iraq is not a threat, there was no reason to be attacking them. Iraq was not involved in the September 11th attacks. So why did we go to war with them? Since, the war had continued, because the forces of the US were attacked by Iraqi guerillas. The US supported a new democratic government within Iraq, which was opposed by various Islamic groups that held power in the country. The US attempted to control the flow of oil from Iraq, one of the largest petroleum producers in the Middle East.

The delft network in the netherlands

The delft network in the netherlands 1 About the Delft network Delft is a city located in the Netherlands, having a population of 96168. It is spread over an area of 24 sq.km. (Wikipedia 2009a). The Delft University of Technology is the largest technical university in the Netherlands, with over 15,000 students (Wikipedia 2009b). Due to the significant student population, cycling is an important mode of transport. Delft is bound by freeways on all sides, except the southern, which is delimited by a highway. The hierarchy of roads in Delft is freeways, highways, main roads, and local roads. The railway line cuts across the city, running in the north-south direction from the centre of the city. A main road and a highway are the main linkages between the two freeways on the either side of the railway line. 2 Transport Problem in Delft The railway line passing through Delft is a component of one of the principal railway connections in the Netherlands, connecting Rotterdam and The Hague. The existing 2-track railway line is insufficient, and it has been planned to be upgraded to a 4-track line. However, due to lack of space to build another viaduct, and environmental problems caused by the railway line, it has been proposed to rebuild the railway line in a tunnel. 2020 is envisaged to be a typical year while the construction is in operation. Thus, Links 10486, 9873, and 9827 will be blocked for all traffic. Due to the detours which would result due to the blocked links, cyclists and cars would have to deal with increased travel times. It is anticipated that Mercuriusweg/Abtwoudse Pad or the Ruys de Berenbrouckstraat links would be used in lieu of the blocked links (Chen 2009). 3 Description of Current scenario and Alternate Scenarios 3.1 Description of the Current Situation 2003 Zones 1-7 are the external zones, whereas the rest of the zones are considered as the internal zones. The internal zones are the primary areas of concern. It has also been given that in 2003, zones 23, 24, and 25 are still under development and there is no travel demand from and to these zones (Chen 2009). 3.2 Description of the Zero-Alternative Situation 2020 By 2020, zones 24 and 25 will have been completely developed. However, Zone 23 would still not have been developed. Infrastructure has been upgraded accordingly to connect zones 24 and 25 with the rest of the city. Zone 12 remains the highest trip generating and trip attracting internal zone, as does Zone 1 amongst the external zones. 3.3 Description of Future Situation during Construction 2020 Considering the future scenario for the city of Delft in 2020 during the expansion of the rail line from 2-track to 4-track, it shall be assumed that this project will be in progress and 2020 will be a typical year. It has been given that during the expansion, Links 10486, 9873, and 9827 will be blocked (Chen 2009). The trip generation remains the same as for the zero-alternate scenario for 2020. 4 Modelling for Current Situation 2003 4.1 Trip Generation For performing the trip generation modelling function, the Zonal-based Multiple Regression model has been employed. It takes into account the linear relationships of the socio-economic characteristics of the households in the zones, which affects the trips produced and attracted for each zone (Ortà ºzar and Willumsen 1999). The following functions have been used for the trip generating model in the case of internal zones: Pi = 0.3RESIDENTSi + 0.06JOBSi + 0.03RESEARCHi + 0.03EDUCATIONi Ai = 0.05RESIDENTSi + 0.75JOBSi + 0.3RESEARCHi + 0.3EDUCATIONi Where Pi = production of zone i, Ai = attraction of zone i, RESIDENTSi = number of residents in zone i, JOBSi = number of jobs in zone i, RESEARCHi = research facility space in zone i, EDUCATIONi = amount of educational services offered in zone i. Source: Chen 2009 For the case of external zones, the numbers of trips generated and attracted have been assessed based on the traffic volume counts. These are as indicated in Appendix 1. For the internal zones, it can be seen that the variable of the number of residents living in each zone is the most dominant one affecting the number of trips produced. The variables which are most dominant for trip attraction are number of jobs, and the research facility space in that particular zone respectively. Appendix 2 indicates the trip generation for 2003, including both the internal as well as the external zones. 2003 histogram.JPGFigure 4-1: Productions and Attractions for the Current Scenario 2003 It can be seen from the Appendix 2 and figure 4-1, Zone 12 is the largest trip generator and attracting external zone. Zone 1 is the highest trip generating and attracting internal zone. 4.2 Trip Distribution and Modal Split The Gravity Model has been employed to generate the trip distribution model. This model is a type of Synthetic Model as â€Å"it estimates trips for each cell in the matrix without directly using the observed trip pattern† (Ortà ºzar and Willumsen 1999 p.159). There are three variants for the Gravity Model function, namely: Exponential Function: f(cij) = exp (-ßcij) Power Function: f(cij) = cij-n Combined Function: cnij exp(-ßcij) Singly constrained versions, in this case destination-constrained, can be produced by making Ai equal to 1, i.e. Ai = 1 and Bj= 1/?iDif(cij) The Combined Function variation of the Gravity Model is the most superior one, as it is the best fit with the actual observed values for trip length distributions of cars (Ortà ºzar and Willumsen 1999). OmniTRANS performs simultaneous modal split, for which the gravity model can be extended to the â€Å"simultaneous gravity model† which is given by: Tijv=p.Qi.Xj.Fv(zijv) Where Tijv= Number of trips from zone I to j via mode v p= Scaling factor Xj= Column Balancing Factor Fv(zijv)= Distribution function taking into account the willingness to travel by mode v given impedance z Appendix 4 indicates the traffic distribution of cars in Delft. 44566 cars have been distributed. As can be seen in Appendix 5, 8635 cyclists have been distributed the entire network of Delft. The modal split indicates that 83.77 percent of the traffic is constituted by cars and 16.23 percent by bicycles. The trip length distribution function for cars can be seen in figure 4-2. This indicates the willingness to travel to a certain distance without any impendence, such as congestion. Hence, in this case the maximum uncongested distance travelled is 10 km. Similarly, figure 4-3 indicates the trip length distribution for bicycles, which experiences its peak at 3 km. The trip time distributions for cars and bicycles have been indicated in Figure 4-4 and Figure 4-5 respectively. These functions, too, follow a similar pattern as that of the Trip Length Distribution. In the case of cars and bicycles, both, the peak is of 12 minutes. The mean trip distance for bicycles is 3.14 km and the mean trip time is 14.22 minutes. Similarly, for cars, the mean distance is 7.59 km and time is 11.12 minutes. Intra-zonal car trips constitute only about 0.57 percent of the total number of trips made by cars, and those made by bicycles constitute about 16.55 percent of the total number of bicycle trips. 4.3 Traffic Assignment 4.3.1.1 Assignment for Cars The General Equilibrium technique of traffic assignment has been used for cars. The condition as given by Wardrop is that â€Å"Under equilibrium conditions, traffic arranges itself in congested networks in such a way that no individual trip maker can reduce his path costs by switching routes† (Ortà ºzar and Willumsen 1999 p.303). Under this traffic assignment model, costs are all perceived in the same way by the trip makers, and hence Stochastic effects are not considered. The following links have the largest traffic flow (for a single direction) of about 7064 cars assigned: 10972, 10973, 11289, 11427, 11428, and 11477. Figure 4-6 represents the traffic assignment for cars in 2003. The colours of the bands, in the graph, indicate the V/C Ratio and the width indicates the traffic load. It reflects that the main road, the east and west freeways crossing the railway are suffering from V/C ratios greater than 1, which requires attention. 4.3.1.2 Assignment for Bicycles The Stochastic Method has been employed for the traffic assignment model for bicycles. This method is superior to the All-Or-Nothing Method, as it takes into account the diversity in the road users perceptions of distance, travel time, generalised costs; and thus considers alternate routes to the best-route choice, given by the All-Or-Nothing technique. This is a suitable model for the traffic assignment of bicycles as this technique does not take into account the congestion effects, which is not calculable since capacities for bicycles are not specified. Link 10850 has been assigned the maximum number of bicycle trips for a single direction, which is 941 trips. Figure 4-7 represents the assignment of bicycles in 2003. Most of the trips are confined to the internal zones. 5 Modelling for Future Situation 2020 The modelling stages for the future scenarios of 2020 will remain the same till the Traffic Assignment Stage, which would differ based on the blocked links for the future construction scenario of 2020. 5.1 Trip Generation The Zonal-based Multiple Regression model has been employed. The functions are the same as those for 2003. However, forecasts for the number of residents, jobs, and the research facility space and education building space in 2020 are different from the current year. Also, it has been given that the productions and attractions generated by the external zones is to be assumed to grow by 15 percent from 2020 to 2003 (Chen 2009). The above figure 5-1 illustrates that Zone 1 still remains the highest trip production and attraction external zone; and Zone 12 continues to remain the highest trip producing and attracting internal zone. The same is reflected through Appendix 3. 5.2 Trip Distribution and Modal Split The Gravity Model has been employed for the trip distribution. A total of about 54380 cars have been distributed, and about 10413 bicycles. The modal split for 2020 demonstrates that about 83.5 percent of the trips would be by cars, and the remaining 16.5 percent by bicycles. For cars, the intra-zonal trips constitute about 0.54 percent, whereas for the bicycles, intra-zonal trips constitute about 15.71 percent of the trips. Trip length distribution function (indicated in Figure 5-2 and 5-3) and the trip time distribution functions (indicated in Figure 5-4 and 5-5) have been generated. The maximum uncongested distance remains the same for both cars and bicycles, as in 2003, as also the maximum uncongested time in the case for cars. For bicycles, the maximum time has reduced to 8 minutes. The mean trip distance for bicycles is 3.26 km and the mean time is 14.75 minutes. Similarly, for cars, the mean distance is 7.56 km and time is 11 minutes. 5.3 Traffic Assignment for Zero-Alternative Situation 5.3.1 Traffic Assignment for Cars The General Equilibrium model has been employed. The following links have the maximum numbers of cars assigned, i.e. about 8346 cars, to them for one direction: Links 10972, 10973, 11289, 11427, 11428, 11477, and 11478. Figure 5-6 represents the assignment for cars. The colours of the bands, in the graph, indicate the V/C Ratio and the width indicates the load of traffic. The freeways continue to have high V/C ratios, as well as the main roads crossing the railway. 5.3.2 Traffic Assignment for Bicycles For the traffic assignment modelling for bicycles, the Stochastic Method has been used again. Link 10850 has been assigned the maximum number of bicycle trips (114 trips). Figure 5-7 represents the bicycle assignment. 5.4 Traffic Assignment for Future Construction Situation In the future situation during construction, the decision to upgrade the railways from two tracks to four tracks has been made. This would result in the closing of Links 9827, 9873, and 10486. 5.4.1 Traffic Assignment for Cars It has been calculated that links 11283, 11407, 11463, and 11464 have the maximum load, of 10723 cars in one direction. Figure 5-8 represents the car assignment considering future construction. The cross-railway link south of zone 17 experiences a greater load, whereby there is a reduction in the northern cross-link. 5.4.2 Traffic Assignment for Bicycles The Stochastic model employed for assigning the bicycle traffic that Link 10452 the maximum load, in one direction, of 1446.54 bicycles. Figure 5-9 represents the assignment for bicycles. 6 Analysis 6.1 Trip Generation Amongst the internal zones, which are of primary concern, Zone 12 is the zone which remains the highest trip producing and attracting zone. This is supported by the fact that Zone 12 has the highest number of residents living in it, and the maximum number of jobs existing in this zone. This zone is located at the heart of the city, adjacent to the railway line and the main road connecting the two freeways. All the internal zones have experienced a growth rate for the number of trips generated and produced by about 11 percent. Zone 1 also remains the highest trip producing and attracting external zone. This may be accounted by the fact that Zone 1 is directly connected to Delft by the railway line, and thus could perhaps be an important junction or location. 6.2 Trip Distribution and Modal Split The trip distribution can be reflected through the study of the matrices given in Appendix 4 to 7. For 2003, the maximum number of car trips has been of the nature Internal-to-External, with the most dominant one being from Zone 15 to Zone 1. This has not changed for 2020. For 2003 and 2020, the most dominant character of bicycle trips is Internal-to-Internal, with maximum trips being made within Zone 12. This is as should be expected, since long distance travel by bicycles is not likely to be made except in rare circumstances. The maximum number of bicycle trips may also be attributed to the fact that Zone 12 is the Delft City Centre. The maximum growth (4.8 times) for car trips has been seen for the pair Zone 7-Zone 1, and the maximum for bicycles (0.15 times) has been for the pair Zone 5-Zone 12. On studying the zone-to-zone average travel distance and time, it can be seen from Appendix 8 and 9 that the maximum increase for trip distance has been from zone 7 to 15 (46.86 percent) and maximum increase in time has been for the pair zone 18 to 22 (48.67 percent). The maximum increase (48.78 percent) in cost has been experienced for zone 11 to 22. The modal split indicates a marginal change from 2003 to 2005, whereby there is a decrease from approximately 83.77 to 83.5 percent for cars. Intra-zonal trips made in 2020 have experienced a fall from 2003. This may indicate greater travel distances and time, and thus greater generalized costs in the future. 6.3 Traffic Assignment On comparing the figures indicating the traffic assignments for the three scenarios, it can be seen that the maximum car trips load remains on the freeways defining Delft on the eastern and western sides. The main difference can be seen between the zero-alternative and construction situation for 2020. Due to the blocked links, car traffic has been assigned to the links 1164, 11645, and Westvest-Hooikade particularly have experienced a significant increase, whereas the Westlandseweg links have experienced a decrease in the load of trips. Also, as was expected, there was an increased use of the Ruys-de-Berenbrouckstraat, and Abtwoudse links. However, the Mercuriusweg saw a decrease in the traffic load as compared to the zero-alternative scenario, which goes against as was anticipated. In the case of assigned bicycle trips, due to the blocked links, the Hof-van-Delftlaan link has seen a substantial increase in the traffic load. The share of the railway crossing traffic has been seen to change for all the three scenarios. This has been indicated in figure 6-1. There is a decrease in the share from 2003 to the Zero-Alternative scenario. However, comparing the future construction scenario with the Zero-Alternative, there has been an increase in the share, for both cars and bicycles. 7 Conclusions Zones 1 and 12 being of prime importance, also supported by their connectivity will continue to dominate as the zones attracting and generating the maximum traffic. Since maximum bicycle traffic load is concentrated in Zone 12, measures may be taken to restrict the entry of cars in this area so as to ensure a more safe environment, which would even benefit the households, as the maximum percentage are located in this zone. Increased generalised costs must be taken into account, based on the above analysis. Links which are experiencing greater traffic loads due to construction works have been identified, and relief measures for these should be planned, particularly for the freeways on the eastern and western side of the city. 8 Strengths and Weaknesses of OmniTRANS The strength of OmniTRANS is that it helps in the rapid and accurate transport modeling procedures. Also, the data can be very easily examined on the transport network map, rather than just being confined to tables and numbers, which makes analysis tedious. Also, a number of variables can be studied, which can be further sorted out based on the direction for any particular link. The weaknesses could be cited as only being able to employ the use of the Simultaneous Gravity Model being available for trip distribution stage. Also, only limited types of traffic assignment models can be performed (such as Stochastic, All-or-Nothing, and Equilibrium). Public transport modelling is also not performed by the software (OmniTRANS 2009). References CHEN, H. 2009. Handout: Coursework Description, lecture notes distributed in TRAN5020 Principles of Transport Modelling. University of Leeds, 3 November 2009. OMNITRANS. 2009. Whats New in OT5 [online]. [Accessed on 1st December 2009]. Available from http://www.omnitrans-international.com/resources/brochures/whats%20new%202008.pdf. ORTÚZAR, J. WILLUMSEN, L.G. 1999. Modelling Transport. West Sussex: Wiley. WIKIPEDIA. 2009a. Delft [online]. [Accessed on 10 November 2009]. Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delft. WIKIPEDIA. 2009b. Delft University of Technology [online]. [Accessed on 10 November 2009]. Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delft_University_of_Technology.

How Effective is the Internet for Meeting People?

How Effective is the Internet for Meeting People? How effective is the internet as a means of meeting new people? Examine the successes and failures of internet dating. Background History: In recent years ‘internet dating’ has become very popular for a number of reasons, mainly due to its ease and convenience. In a world where single people often have little time to socialise and find it hard to meet like minded people the internet has provided a link to the world of dating and romance. The scope of people it appeals to is far reaching with men and women of all ages, backgrounds and ethnicities interested. The number of internet dating sites is continually growing and has become a very successful and effective business. It is estimated that around 6 million people in Britain belong to an internet dating site. Certainly the stigma which was attached to internet dating a few years ago seems to have passed. (University of Bath Study, 2005) Statistics show that internet dating is big business with leading sites such as Yahoo Personals and Match.com drawing in 4.9 million visitors and 4.2 million visitors respectively in January 2004 alone. (Blazier, 2004) Research: So just how successful is internet dating as a means of meeting new people?   Leading internet dating company match.com was launched in 1995 and estimates that through their site hundreds of thousands of relationships have been formed. Moreover, match.com estimates that over 200,000 members found the person they were seeking through the site. (match.com, 2005) In 2004 a survey was set up by the Weddingchannel.com with results again indicating high success rates for internet dating. The study found that 12% of the 4743 couples registered had met on dating websites. The study also discovered than over 70% of those who had met their partners through internet dating sites were happy to openly admit this to friends and would recommend internet dating to the people around them. (match.com, 2005) Furthermore, a recent and crucially, an independent research study has also concluded that internet dating is officially a successful way of meeting new people and forming friendships or romance attachments and summarises that online dating can indeed be a success for many people. The University of Bath in conjunction with Dr Gavin, Dr Scott and Dr Duffield, carried out an online survey of 229 people aged between 18-65 who had previously used internet dating sites.   The study   (2005)   found that when couples who had spent time forming friendships through emailing or chatting online met for the first time, 94% of them went on to see one another again. Of these relationships formed, on average they lasted for approx 7 months, with 18% of them lasting for over a year. Such figures are in line with relationships formed in more traditional ways. (University of Bath Study, 2005) The study also brought up a number of other interesting facts; the degree to which the couples interacted before meeting up seemed to play a vital role in the success of the relationship. For example, those who talked on the telephone before meeting up and those who chatted simultaneously online (as opposed to simply emailing) were found to have formed ‘deeper’ and more emotional attachments. Similarly, those couples who exchanged gifts before meeting up seemed to form deeper and more committed relationships. The study concluded that simultaneous communication forms more of an intimacy. Interestingly, the research showed that men were generally more likely to be committed to the relationship than the women, and tended to be more dependent upon the women. One explanation for this was the fact that perhaps men felt more comfortable with the anonymity which writing brings as it gave them a chance to express their emotions more easily than they would have been able to face to face. It seems that likewise webcams were not viewed as desirable or successful with anonynimity being preferred. Dr Gavin (Author of Research Study) stated that; â€Å"We also found people are shying away from using webcams because they feel its important not to see their partners for some time – there is something special about text-bases relationships.† (University of Bath Study, 2005) Of all the relationships studied, 39% of the couples were still together at the time of the survey, and of these 24% of the couples had been together for at least a year, and 8% for at least 2 years. Of the relationships which had ended, 14% had lasted for over a year, and 4% had lasted over 2 years. (University of Bath Study, 2005) Successes: Invariably there are always going to be people who are more successful at meeting others than some. Many suggest there is a lot you can do to maximise the success of your internet dating experience. For example, the first thing you need to do is produce a great profile to post online. Dating websites such as the Singlescafe.net express the importance of posting a photo alongside your profile, preferable a happy one! This helps ensure people take the trouble to actually read your profile if they like the look of you. The information in your profile should be kept simple and honest. Good grammar and spelling is also a must. (Dr Black, 2003) DatingDirect.com like many of its rivals offers advice on dating tips and how to find a successful relationship. They suggest that you become a ‘go-getter’ and don’t just wait for others to respond to your profile but actively seek out profiles of like minded members and beginning posting immediately. The theory obviously being that the more people you respond to, the more likely to are you find someone suitable. Obviously for the highest chances of success you should be contacting people who appeal to you, particularly in terms of their hobbies and interests as well as their location. Similarly, they advise that you should respond quickly to members who have contacted you. You should not worry about seeming to eager, good manners win out here. These tips they argue maximise your potential of successfully meeting people and forming a relationship through internet dating. There are obviously many happy stories of both relationships and friendships formed through internet dating. It gives people an opportunity they may not have had otherwise for many reasons. For example some personal success stories follow: â€Å".I was very sceptical at first, not really thinking it would work. Anyway I decided ‘nothing ventured nothing gained’ and sent 6 emails, I received 4 replies, Becky was one of themsince I last contacted you Becky and I have got engaged, we are so happy†¦. meeting Becky has made my life complete.† Graham (http://app6.datingdirect.com/public/success/feedback.asp) â€Å"What a brilliant service, I have found the girl of my dreams and we are now going strong. Keep up the good work!†Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Patrick   (http://app6.datingdirect.com/public/success/feedback.asp) â€Å"I met my wife on a dating website. We married last April and are expecting our first baby this April. We couldnt be happier. Ive met the love of my life. My soul mate. I would recommend dating websites to anyone. They do work.† Adam Stevenson, Plaistow, West Sussex, England(BBC News Page, 2005) Certainly for shy people or those who fear rejection the internet has opened up a new world. They can contact people who are in the same position as them without fear.   Failures: Aswell as the success stories there also seem to be some failures. At the very least there are a number of common pitfalls to internet dating. While most subscribers will desire a large number of responses to their profile, this can actually backfire on you if you end up receiving far to many to cope with. Conway (from Askmen.com) discusses how he once received 56 responses to his profile and found this rather overwhelming, meaning he had to spend a huge amount of time replying to all the women and basically often repeating what he had said and asking the same questions over again as he couldn’t keep on top of the correspondence; â€Å"I cant tell you how many times Ive been embarrassed because I asked a woman the same question four or five times.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  http://www.askmen.com/dating/dating_advice_100/102c_dating_tips.html) Likewise, it can be a disappointment to some who do not receive as many responses to their profiles as expected. On a more serious note its important to be aware of the dangers of internet dating as a means of meeting people. The main concern for the user is that the person they are contacting is not who he/she says they are and what they are telling you is not true. There is no way to monitor this and it is purely down to human judgement and experience. A bad experience may put you off internet dating for good. Dating sites urge a strong need for caution. One of the biggest pitfalls of internet dating seems to be the issue of whether all of the users are infact single. It is very common that many people will claim to be divorced or single when infact they are not. The internet is an easy way to cheat for these people with little of the risks involved were they to meet someone in a more conventional sense. Jennifer describes her personal unhappy experience of internet dating: â€Å"I tried it a long time ago, but the men I met were all, without exception. control-freaks, psychos and/or chauvinists, and usually married. From a personal point of view, I’d say avoid it like the plague, but if it is all you have got, be very, very careful. It is far too common an occurrence that women get caught in dangerous situations using the world wide web.† Jennifer, UK (BBC News Page, 2005) In agreement that internet dating is not a viable option to forming new relationships Sarah say; â€Å"Internet dating never works. You can be sure that if a person says one thing to you, they are saying the exact same thing to someone else.† Sarah UK (BBC News Page, 2005) Sadly too, often many con artists will use internet dating sites in order to attract people who may be wealthy. Advice suggests you should never reveal anything financial about yourself and most certainly never offer to help someone out with money. There is also the issue of age with the minimum age being 18; however, again there is no way to verify this. Similarly, there is no true way of knowing until you meet up whether that photo posted in the profile is really a genuine one. If you meet up with someone who has deliberately misled you the experience of internet dating is unlikely to be a successful one. (www.bol.ucla.edu/~jbred/Dangers.htm) There are also risks involved when the internet dater takes the next step and decides to meet up with the person they have been chatting with. While most meetings will at the very least be harmless ones its important to be aware that the person you are meeting could be dangerous or unstable. The advice given is to always meet in a public place, maybe even bring along a friend. Never meet in a private place where you will be alone and never give out your home address to a stranger. The chances of meeting someone dangerous are not high but awareness is needed. (www.bol.ucla.edu/~jbred/Dangers.htm) Conclusion: Whilst it is clear that internet websites are becoming increasingly popular in a society where people find it difficult to socialise and date in a more conventional fashion, it is somewhat unclear just how successful internet dating is for meeting people, or more importantly, in meeting the ‘right’ person and forming long term attachments. Whilst researching the information I have found that there are numerous stories and experiences which support the idea that internet dating in indeed a very successful way of meeting people, however, there are an awful lot of people who say it has been unsuccessful for them. I think it is important to consider the aspect of ‘luck’ in internet dating just as you would in traditional dating. Despite this, however, the internet obviously opens up a wide potential for meeting people and therefore logic would argue that with access to more potential partners it is more likely you may meet the one who is destined for you. Certainly for many people who otherwise would not have even been on the dating scene the internet opens up huge possibilities and success can definitely be found. Infact I would conclude that whilst there are both successes and failures to be found, the majority of the somewhat slim available research on the topic does strongly suggest that the internet is a successful way of meeting people. Certainly all the internet dating sites will agree with this statement and offer and display numerous personal success stories, but more importantly, an independent study carried out by the University of Bath strongly indicated that many long lasting relationships were formed through this method of dating and that couples had as good a chance of staying together as relationships formed in more traditional settings. It must be noted again that the research on this topic is still slim and the study was not a major one but nevertheless evidence available overall strongly suggests that internet dating is a success. Certainly there are ways in order to make internet dating more successful for you and I discussed these earlier. There are also pitfalls to internet dating again discussed earlier. The key seems to be to persevere just as you would in any other dating scenario and the outcome looks good. Bibliography: -Datingdirect.com, Dating Tips, available from http://app6.datingdirect.com/public/help/datingtips.asp (accessed on 12/03/05) -Datingdirect.com, Members Feedback, available from http://app6.datingdirect.com/public/success/feedback.asp (accessed on 12/03.05) -University of Bath Study, 14th Feb 2005, available from  Ã‚   http://www.bath.ac.uk/pr/releases/internet-dating.htm (accessed on 12/3/05) -Jones, Techniques of successful internet daters, available from http://www.girl-dating-tips.com/articles/Techniques_of_Successful_Internet_Daters.shtml (accessed on 12/3/05) Dr Black, The Internet Cafà ©, Internet Dating: How to be successful and safe, 2003 available from http://www.singlescafe.net/internet_dating.html (accessed on 12/3/05) -Blazier, Internet dating service blissfully successful in lasting relationships, March 6th 2004, available from http://www.eharmony.com/core/eharmony?cmd=community-internet-dating-service (accessed on 12/3/05) -Ambit Gambit, Internet Dating: Looking for love in all the wrong places, April 30th 2004, available from http://ambit-gambit.nationalforum.com.au/archives/000254.html (accessed on 12/03.05) -AskMen.com, Dating and love, available from http://www.askmen.com/dating/dating_advice_100/102_dating_tips.html (accessed on 12/03/05) -BBC News Page, Online dating good for romance, 14th February 2005, available from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/4250281.stm (accessed on 12/03/05) -The dangers on internet dating, 21st March 2003, available from http://www.bol.ucla.edu/~jbred/Dangers.htm (accessed on 12/03/05) -Match.com, More married and engaged couples meet on match.com than any other dating website, February 8th 2005, available from   http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050208/nytu177_1.html (accessed on 13/03/05)

The Narrator’s Attitude in The Pugilist at Rest :: Pugilist at Rest Essays

The Narrator’s Attitude in  The Pugilist at Rest  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚      Webster’s Dictionary defines it as a mental position or the feeling one has for oneself.   In life our attitudes help define who you are or what you are like.   Attitude helps create your personality and how you would react under certain situations.   In â€Å"The Pugilist at Rest† Thom Jones tells us of one man’s attitude and how adversity and a disability changed his attitude completely.   The narrator’s attitude under goes changes from boot camp, bludgeoning Hey Baby,   recon Marine duty and finally obtaining Dostoyevski’s epilepsy from a boxing match.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The narrator of the story undergoes changes in boot camp that will forever change his attitude towards life and his fellow Marines.   The story begins by showing a young foolish narrator that only wanted to charge into battle.   The narrator wanted to be all he could be and strived to become the best United States Marine Corp soldier the United States has to offer.   Jones describes the narrator’s determination and ambitions as, â€Å"Whenever danger appears on the scene, truth and justice will be served as I slip into the green U.S.M.C. utility uniform and become Earth’s greatest hero.† (485).   The narrator’s attitude would be altered drastically by a motivating speech that his Sergeant delivered to the boot camp.   Jones describes this speech as, â€Å"You men are going off to war, and it’s not a pretty thing,’ etc. & etc., ‘and if Luke the Gook knocks down one of your buddies, a fellow Marine, you are going to risk your life and go in and get that Marine and you are going to bring him out.   Not because I said so. No!   You are going after that Marine because you are a Marine, a member of the most elite fighting force in the world, and that man out thee who’s gone down is a Marine, and he’s your buddy.   He is you brother!   Once you are a Marine, you are always a Marine and you will never let another Marine down.’ Etc. & etc.    ‘You can take a Marine out of the Corps but you can’t take the Corps out of a Marine.’ Etc. & etc.   At the time it seemed to me a very good speech,

Defending A Mans Honor :: essays research papers

Defending a Man’s Honor   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The main male characters in Shakespeare’s play Othello kill their wives in order to defend their own honor. In the period setting of the play, to show honor, women are expected to be subservient to their husbands. The characters Iago and Othello reflect this attitude toward their respective wives, giving them reason to feel just in killing these women. Iago kills Emilia because she dishonors him by revealing his manipulation of Othello and Cassio. Othello strangles Desdemona because of imagined infidelity, which makes him look like a fool. Both men have different ideas of honor, perceive their own honorable status differently, have different relationships with their wives, and different feelings of remorse. Ultimately they both kill their wives to defend their own honor. Proud, noble, and brave warrior Othello is well respected and his military skills and adventures are widely known. He is charismatic, charming, self-reliant and well traveled. These personality traits made Desdemona fall in love with him, and by these, he measures his honorability. His measures his self-worth by the way he is perceived by others. That is the main reason why he perceives Desdemona’s alleged infidelity as ruining his honor. It makes him look like a fool and he feels that he has been taken advantage of because he is unwise and unfamiliar with the devious sexual practices of Venice women. Othello is also very trusting. Of course, the question is why he believes Iago and doubts his wife. He believes â€Å"honest Iago† without question because Iago had served in the army with him and is generally regarded by all to be an honest man. The feelings of being an outsider and insecure in his social status are Othello’s character flaws and Iago to takes advantage of these Achilles heals. For Iago, deception, manipulating, and killing are second nature. It doesn’t occur to him that he will be caught and he doesn’t have any conscience about what he has done. These characteristics show that Iago is self-absorbed and out for himself. He is also greedy and jealous and plots to make everyone around him unhappy, while seeking position and honor. High position and honor starts his hatred of Othello. Iago sees Othello as being beneath him because of his race, but having all the glory and honor that he covets. The final straw, Cassio being made lieutenant over him, makes him take action and plot his revenge. Defending A Mans Honor :: essays research papers Defending a Man’s Honor   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The main male characters in Shakespeare’s play Othello kill their wives in order to defend their own honor. In the period setting of the play, to show honor, women are expected to be subservient to their husbands. The characters Iago and Othello reflect this attitude toward their respective wives, giving them reason to feel just in killing these women. Iago kills Emilia because she dishonors him by revealing his manipulation of Othello and Cassio. Othello strangles Desdemona because of imagined infidelity, which makes him look like a fool. Both men have different ideas of honor, perceive their own honorable status differently, have different relationships with their wives, and different feelings of remorse. Ultimately they both kill their wives to defend their own honor. Proud, noble, and brave warrior Othello is well respected and his military skills and adventures are widely known. He is charismatic, charming, self-reliant and well traveled. These personality traits made Desdemona fall in love with him, and by these, he measures his honorability. His measures his self-worth by the way he is perceived by others. That is the main reason why he perceives Desdemona’s alleged infidelity as ruining his honor. It makes him look like a fool and he feels that he has been taken advantage of because he is unwise and unfamiliar with the devious sexual practices of Venice women. Othello is also very trusting. Of course, the question is why he believes Iago and doubts his wife. He believes â€Å"honest Iago† without question because Iago had served in the army with him and is generally regarded by all to be an honest man. The feelings of being an outsider and insecure in his social status are Othello’s character flaws and Iago to takes advantage of these Achilles heals. For Iago, deception, manipulating, and killing are second nature. It doesn’t occur to him that he will be caught and he doesn’t have any conscience about what he has done. These characteristics show that Iago is self-absorbed and out for himself. He is also greedy and jealous and plots to make everyone around him unhappy, while seeking position and honor. High position and honor starts his hatred of Othello. Iago sees Othello as being beneath him because of his race, but having all the glory and honor that he covets. The final straw, Cassio being made lieutenant over him, makes him take action and plot his revenge.