Alcohol And Tobacco In Sports Essays - Marketing,

Alcohol And Tobacco In Sports With sports becoming more and more commercialized, sponsorships have taken over professional sports. In this paper, Alcohol and Tobacco sponsorships will be the issue of this paper. Sports sponsorship has become an important marketing tool for advertiser's because of the flexibility, broad reach, and high level of brand or corporate exposure that it affords, (Krapp, 49). Yet some sponsors have created an uproar with in the society, these are namely alcohol and tobacco products. These two make up about half of the sponsorship in professional sports today. Sports sponsorship has been around since the creation of professional sport in the late nineteenth century. It is not a new topic, but it has become some what of a controversial issue in the past twenty years. With Tobacco companies being under strong scrutiny from the government and society, their sponsorship of sporting events have also been questioned about their effect on the youth of America. Sponsorships are useful as a supplement to regular advertising; however, they are especially valuable as an advertising substitute in situations where advertising may be banned or limited. Sports sponsorship provides opportunities to reach audiences in four distinct ways: (1)during the prepromotion advertising and publicity for the event, (2)at the event site during the event itself, (3)during the live or delayed broadcast of the event, and (4)during postevent news reporting of the event's results. Each time the sporting event is mentioned or shown in the media, there is an opportunity for the event sponsor to gain exposure, (Krapp, 50). Alcohol and Tobacco companies take great advantage of this. They sponsor sporting events or pay to have their advertisements in certain sports arenas and stadiums for just this reason. Multiple chances to have their brand or corporate name shown on television or by the people attending the sporting event. Yet by having these advertisements in the are nas or stadiums, the alcohol or tobacco company does not have to put up warnings with their advertisement like they have to do on their products and advertisements in publications. Significant brand exposure may be gained through event publicity, prepromotion, on-site signage, and telecast of the event, but unlike conventional advertising, there is no requirement for including health warnings or moderation messages, (Locke, 224). Several beer companies are heavily involved in sport sponsorship, actually owning or sponsoring Major League Baseball teams. For example, Anheuser-Busch owns the St. Louis Cardinals, Coors has an ownership position with the Colorado Rockies, and Canadian brewer Labatt owns the Toronto Blue Jays. In 1990, Gloede reported that Anheuser-Busch sponsored 23 of 24 domestic Major League Baseball teams, 18 of 24 National Football League teams, 22 of 27 National Basketball Association teams, and 13 of 14 domestic National Hockey League teams. Also with such major international events such as the 1998 World Cup of Soccer in France and recently with the sponsorship of the Woman's National Basketball Association through Bud Light, (Krapp, 51). This is a incredible statistic, in that, beer companies sponsor more than half of all professional sports teams in America. A company that brews alcohol sponsors the majority of sports in this country when alcohol has nothing to do with the playing or part icipating in any of those sports. Alcohol sponsorship is looked at in a better light than tobacco sponsorship, which is the more controversial topic. For both of them, sports media is a key vehicle for presenting and promoting their products in connection with activities defined by most people as healthy. This enables them to present product images that they hope will counteract other negatives in the culture, (Coakley, 381). This is why you will see more alcohol advertisements than sports drink advertisements. The alcohol and tobacco companies want to be incorporated with sports since they are considered good for a person, and they are not great for a person. It makes them good by association with the sports that they sponsor. Cigarette ads were banned from television in the United States in 1971 and in many other countries including Canada and Australia. A key benefit of sports sponsorship is that it provides a legal loophole for circumventing the ad ban, (Krapp, 51). Tobacco products have also been sponsors of sporting

Beazer Homes USA Inc Business Analysis Essay

Beazer Homes USA Inc Business Analysis Essay Beazer Homes USA Inc Business Analysis Essay Beazer Homes USA Inc Business Analysis Essay Financial statements analysis involves evaluation of an organization’s previous financial performance and determination of future performance based on information that has been obtained. Analyzing a firm’s financial performance does not only require the capability of an analyzer to sense and judge, but also requires application of analytical techniques. Analyzing Financial Statements: Beazer Homes USA INC The organization’s financial data and information are used by various stakeholders as well as those individuals who want to invest in the organization in one way or the other. Some of these stakeholders include creditors, investors, suppliers, employees, the government, competitors, and proprietors of the organization. Creditors require firm’s financial information in order to determine if the organization is or is not in a stable financial position to repay credit extended to it. Investors require the firm’s financial information in order to decide whether or not to invest in the organization. The information enables them to determine the firm’s ability to make profit with invested finances. In turn, competitors use the firm’s financial information to compare its performance with the other firm and improve areas in which it has lagged behind. Owners or proprietors of an organization use its financial statements to know how their business is perform ing compared to previous years as well as determining its financial position, which enables them to make decisions about the company. Lastly, the government has to get firm’s financial statements to calculate how much it is going to charge as tax depending on the firm’s returns. This paper analyzes Beazer Home USA Inc., a Fortune 500 American homebuilding organization founded in 1985 and based in Atlanta, Georgia. The firm builds and sells single family as well as multiple family homes in over twenty states of the US. It offers homes for entry levels, moving up, as well as retirement-oriented buyers. The company sells its products under its unique brand of Beazer Homes. Moreover, under the application of a commissioned new home, it engages qualified sales counselors as well as individual brokers. Determination of ratios of a company has emerged as one of the most significant ways of analyzing financial information. This paper provides a clear picture of the company’s financial performance and the information obtained will be necessary in comparing the data of the company with its previous data and with other companies in the same industry. Ratios Calculation and Evaluation Current ratio is determined by the process of division of current assets of a business by its current liabilities: Current ratio = current assets/current liabilities It determines whether or not an organization has sufficient cash in order to meet its current liabilities over the following fiscal year of its operations. The ratio obtained is considered as a test of liquidity for the firm. It determines if the organization has enough cash to meet its short-term liabilities with current assets it has. On the one hand, short-term creditors would rather go for a high current ratio than a low credit ratio since it draws down their general risk. On the other hand, they may prefer a higher current ratio because they are more concerned about growth of the firm by using its assets. A current ratio has twice the current assets as current liabilities are acceptable by most investors although the ratio may vary from one investor to another. A high current ratio indicates that the organization is holding high capital in the form of current assets. With Beazer Homes USA Inc., current assets increased from $5.12 million to $10.7 million, which shows that the liquidity state improved in 2016 (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, 2017). Quick ratio = current assets inventory/ current liabilities The high quick ratio proves that the organization has the ability to recover its short-term debts from its liquid assets. Most importantly, there is a huge distinction between current and quick ratios due to the fact that the company has enormous inventory. Also, it can be seen in the balance sheet that the company has increased its highly liquid investments that can be easily turned into cash. Cash ratio generally looks at the ability to cover liabilities more than other liquidity ratios. This is because it does not include inventories or accounts receivables in the equation. The cash ratio remained constant for the years 2016 and 2017. Long-Term Solvency /Financial Leverage Ratios Total debt ratio = total assets-total equity/total assets Total debt is the amount of long-term interest bearing liabilities, which an organization performs on its balance sheet. It includes bonds that have been sold out to the public, capital leases, or even notes sold to banks. The advantage of debt is that it can assist an organization in increasing its earnings although the burden of interest and principle payments will ultimately prevent the company from excessive borrowing. Debt equity ratio = total debt/total equity Debt to equity ratio is calculated by a process of division of the total debt of an organization by its equity. If the debt exceeds equity of an organization, then creditors have a bigger stake in the company than stakeholders. Debt to equity generally offers more insight about the composition of both equity and debt as well as their influence on the valuation of the organization. The debt/ equity for Beazer Inc. was 7.02. Such a small debt to equity ratio shows that the firm is not taking full advantage of its financial leverage. However, a high debt to equity ratio may indicate that a company has been borrowing too much to finance its growth. This may make the firm experience a burden of additional interest expense. The ratio measures how the organization is leveraging borrowing compared to the capital invested by investors. Equity multiplier = total assets/total equity     ($1,986,789 $240,550/$1,986,789 = 87.9%) Times interest earned ratio = EBIT/Interest Cash coverage ratio=EBIT+DEPRECIATION/interest Debt Ratios 2017 2018 Total Debt Ratio 86.8% 87.9% Debt/ Equity Ratio 72.9% 65.9% Equity Multiplier 7.55 8.26 Times Interest Earned 50.2 30 Cash Coverage Ratio 0 0 The above ratios measure the extent to which the firm is financed by debt and whether the firm is in a position to meet its interest payments. Debt to total assets ratio suggests that the firm had more debt financing in 2017 than before, but it is not a considerable amount of change compared to the previous year. Debt/equity ratio has increased from 87.9% to 86.8%. Debt financing is extremely high and will possibly increase the EPS and therefore will reduce the dividend per share, assuming that it will keep on increasing. Equity multiplier is stable by 0.71, which means that the company has 0.71 in assets for every 1$ in shareholder equity. Times interest earned decreased from 50.2 to 30, which suggests more risk for creditors since they fear that they cannot get their interest. Also, it will be very difficult for the firm to borrow additional funds. Cash coverage ratio cannot be determined because the firm does not show depreciation in the balance sheet. Asset Utilization/Turnover Ratios These ratios are to show how quickly the firm converts its current assets into cash. A/R turnover and days sales in receivables show that the firm is efficient in collecting its receivables and it gives a very short credit period to customers. It also indicates that the organization is too strict in its credit policy and takes only favorable trends. Total asset turnover faces an increase from 0.51 to 0.65, which could be caused by efficiency of controlling assets or the firm’s proper utilization of its assets to generate sales. Lastly, capacity intensity suggests that there is inefficiency in deployment of its assets although expenses are still very low. Profitability Ratios Profit margin measures the overall work of an organization and shows the company’s ability to withstand competition and resist adverse conditions like rising costs, decrease in sales, and decrease in prices, or even management distress. The profit margin shows investors how well the company carries out its entire pricing strategies and how effective the organization is in controlling its costs. Generally, profit margin tells the amount of money the organization makes from total sales or revenue. It can offer a good insight into firms in the same industry and assist in learning trends of an organization from year to year. Beazer Homes USA Inc. shows a profit margin of -1.0%, which is 37.11% lower than the average in the industrial goods sector. Return on assets, ROA, shows how effective the management of an organization is in creating income by using all available assets. It is an important ratio that assists in evaluating performance of various departments of an organization and comprehending management performance over a period of time. Return on equity (ROE) = net income/ total equity Return on equity tells organization’s stockholders how well their investment is being used or invested. It is a vital ratio when analyzing the organization’s profitability or management effectiveness given the capital invested by investors. Return on equity shows how well an organization uses investment to create income. In most industries, ROE between 10 and 30 percent is considered as desirable to offer dividends to its investors and have money for the growth of the organization in future. When using return on equity, investors should be keen because ROE can be high if an organization is heavily leveraged. From the calculation for Beazer Homes USA Inc., the return on equity is -6.28%, 25.5% lower than that of the industry. Profit margin ratio illustrates the amount of profit realized for every single dollar of the company’s sales. A low ratio may suggest that expenses as a percentage of sales are high or that the firm cannot sell enough to cover them. Net income has drastically dropped from -14.45% to -2.63% due to high expenses of the company. Net loss was $145,326 million and decreased by $33,868 million in 2016 (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, 2016). Return on assets ratio measures the amount of profit generated for every dollar invested in assets. This ratio showed a drastic decrease in 2016. The ratio is made by a combination of profit margin and total asset turnover. It is clear that the drop in the ratio is due to the lower profit margin and total assets turnover. A low ratio is unfavorable and a deeper analysis should be done to increase the profit margin. Return on Equity shows profit generated by the firm for every dollar invested by shareholders, as well as the management performance. Management is looking for a higher ratio, but unfortunately 46% decrease was seen in 2017. Return on equity is composed of three major constituents, including: Profit margin (operational efficiency), which indicates a huge drop. Total assets turnover (utilization of assets), which decreased as well. Capital structure, the use of debt financing, i.e. leverage. It is clear that there was a dramatic drop in profit margin and decrease in the total asset turnover indicates that the management is ineffective. Moreover, it suggests that the company is not effective in using its assets to generate sales. Comprehensive Report Most importantly, many organizations are aimed at maintaining their current ratio as 1 in order to ensure that their current assets can cover their current liabilities. On the one hand, current ratio that is greater than 1, as in the case of Beazer Homes USA Inc. at 8, cushions the organization against future contingencies that might arise in the short term. On the other hand, the current ratio of this organization is way too high. This implies that the company is using its resources inefficiently and that the resources are concentrated in the working capital of the company, which could be put in other revenue generating activities. All in all, this company is better than those, which maintain a much lower current ratio since they tend to risk their companies. That is due to the fact that liquidity matters should be accounted for in every company. Quick ratio, as noted before, is an indicator of the organization’s solvency and should be analyzed over regular periods of time, just like current ratio. Quick ratio of Beazer Homes is still high despite the fact that it has been reduced in the current year compared to the previous year. This implies that this company is investing too much with available working capital of the firm, which could be invested somewhere else and still generate more profit than it is currently generating. This company should consider investing cash in other new ventures or if there are no other available and more profitable ventures, it should then return excess funds to shareholders as profit or use them to cover borrowed finances. In any case, the fact that Beazer Homes USA Inc.’s quick ratio is high makes the company better than others in the industry, which have very low quick ratio, implying that such companies take great risks by not balancing the buffer of liquid resources. Moreover, the debt to equity ratio of Beazer Homes USA Inc. is 0.65. This implies that the organization uses debt financing equal to 65% of equity. This is a reduction when compared to the previous year when it used 75% of debt financing. In both cases, the debt to equity ratio is relatively high. Such high debt to equity ratio increases chances of the company’s default in repayment, which may result in liquidation. This may be dangerous to all stakeholders of this organization, especially investors and lenders, since it increases the risk associated with their investment. This in turn may force them to demand a higher rate of return to cover additional risks. Such increases in required rate of return by lenders and investors will consequently increase the cost of capital for Beazer Homes USA Inc. However, the high ratio of debt to equity for this company could imply a positive concept as well. This is so since debt is sometimes a cheaper source of finance when compared with e quity due to tax savings associated with the latter. Therefore, the company can maintain the ratio at a high level, but not at an extremely high one because very high ratio may cancel the benefit that is associated with this concept. This is because high ratio will be met by investors’ and lenders’ high rate of returns due to the risk associated with such high levels of debt. It is therefore crucial for this company to measure the debt to equity ratio and maintain it at a reasonable level. Net profit margin ratio: As discussed earlier, profit margin ratio indicates the proportion of revenue that turns into profit. In this case, the Beazer Homes USA Inc. had a profit margin of -2.63% in 2017. This was an improvement compared to 2016 when the margin was -14%. The fact that this figure is negative indicates that the company actually suffered losses. This ratio is a crucial and fundamental key performance indicator of the organization’s profitability. The decrease in the net profit margin ratio from -14% to -2% is a significant change that probably contributed to increased sales coupled with efforts of the company to reduce the rate of expenses involved in buying and constructing homes. The low profit margin of 2016 could be explained by existence of a competitive environment in this industry, which consequently influenced such factors as selling price, cost structure, and cost of factors of production and inflation. The company might have done a research and come u p with ways of reducing the cost of production as well as that of sale in 2017, hence explaining improvement in profit margin. The total revenue increased by 28% from 2016 to 2017, which indicates that the company is making more sales by selling houses, but with more expenses. The company experienced a very high drop in profitability and ended up with high cost and expenses that resulted in losses in previous years. Home construction and sales expenses increased by 20%, which raised expenses. The cost of revenue increased from $1,005,677 to $1,287,577 (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, 2017). From the analysis it is evident that Beazer Homes USA Inc. is still performing well compared to previous years because there is a significant reduction in losses in 2017 compared to 2016. The loss amounted to $145,326 to $33,868 in 2016 and 2017 respectively (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, 2014). In case the company can decrease the cost of building homes and get cheaper land, it will eventually stop making losses, which will significantly boost its profits. Beazer experienced a large amount of expenses although the revenue shows further growth compared to the previous year, which is a good sign. However, the main sources of loss included home and land sale expenses, depreciation, and amortization. Furthermore, it is evident that it is hard to predict whether these expenses could result in profit because the cost of expenses was increasing faster than the revenue that the company should have maintained or increased steadily. This company needs a clear plan in order to reduce its expenses. As it can be seen from the analysis, main causes of these losses were related to operational costs. Fixed costs did not contribute immensely to high expenses. With a proper and well-controlled business plan, the company will be in a position to make profits and increase earnings for its investors since the market for its products, homes, is in demand and the company is competing relatively well in this market. This paper has discussed financial analysis of Beazer Homes USA Inc. The financial statements have shown a consistent increase in total revenue over three years. However, the firm is still in a phase of low or no profits, which is explained by high expenses, especially the cost of home construction and cost of buying land. The paper has explored liquidity ratios for this company. It has looked at the current ratio, which measures whether or not an organization has enough cash to meet its current liabilities over the next fiscal year. The ratio obtained for this company is very high, 8 times, and this is a positive indication although it also shows that the company is not efficient in using its available working capital. The quick ratio at 2.54 proves that the organization has the ability to meet its short-term liabilities from its liquid assets. The same concerns its cash ratio, which generally looks at the ability to cover liabilities in more depth than other liquidity ratios, altho ugh it remained constant for two years. The paper has also analyzed profitability ratios of the company. Profit margin has been among them and it indicates that there is a great improvement from -14% to -2% despite the fact that the company is still making losses. Return on assets showed a significant drop to 1% from 7% and the return on equity had a 46% decrease in 2016. Asset utilization or turnover ratio shows how quickly the firm converts its current assets into cash. The total asset utilization is low at 0.5 times although it is an improvement from the previous year’s 0.65%. Lastly, the paper has discussed the financial leverage ratio, which measures the extent to which the firm is financed by debt and whether the firm is in a position to meet its interest payments. This company was financed at the level of 86% and 87% in 2016 and 2017 respectively.

Communication with My Father Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Communication with My Father - Essay Example My communication with my father is also characterized by kindness. I have a feeling that my father favors me over my siblings. Thus, he is often kind and gentle to me than to my brothers and sisters. I feel this is unfair and should be changed so that my siblings will enjoy the same privileges I enjoy. Nevertheless, I am grateful to my father for showing me kindness each day. He has been very supportive of me since I was a child. We spend time doing a lot of things and telling stories. We enjoy each other’s company and often while away time with stories to tell. He is like a best friend to me whom I can count on in times of disappointments. However, unlike a friend who expects something in return, he does not pressure me to comply with his expectations. This is so because I know what he wants for me and I usually do what I think would please him. I do not ever want to disappoint him because he is my role model. If I fail to be good, I know that he will be disappointed. Thus, t o avoid disappointing him, I study hard and limit the time I spend with my friends. In return, he is very kind to me and supports me in every endeavor. Love is also an important factor in our communication. The love of my father serves as my fountain of gladness. It gives me the motivation to strive hard and succeed in my dream, express hope and compassion towards others, and deal with other people with respect. I can feel the love of my father as he communicates with me. He is always to my benefit.

Hilton Hotel Corporations Strategies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Hilton Hotel Corporations Strategies - Essay Example Hilton Hotel lays a major focus on the local growth in the lodging sector through expansion of operations into casinos and holiday ownership. In the year 2000, the hotel acquired Promus Hotel Company adding the statistical summation of their properties to 1700. The hotel as a brand management corporation devotes to offering excellent care of its guests accounting for more than 100 million room nights in America yearly. The corporation carters to the needs of both the customers and the owners accounting for approximately billions of dollars of real estate investments in its brands. The corporation earns more profits through other people’s monetary input into the corporation. The corporation has information technology (OnQ) intertwined with its brands. The company’s approximate cost of OnQ is 93 million dollars,40 dollars accounting for application development. The remaining portion of the 93 million estimate accounts for hardware and infrastructure realization. In 2007, the corporation registered 102 dollars growth through investment in OnQ. Maintenance of the OnQ infrastructure accounted for 60 million dollars annually. The corporation earned 750 million dollars through the cross-selling of the branded products. The corporation strives to satisfy the goal of each of its diversified brands. Through the Customer Really Matter (CRM) initiative, the corporation incorporates technology to enhance its relationship with the customers. The company established CRM in 2002, and it has ensured that its employees offer excellent and high-quality service to their clients. The high-quality service in terms of hospitality offered by the hotel employees ensures that it is sort after by a broader extension of clients. In the estimation of CRM’s performance involves calculations as an ROI for the most corporations’ project. An ROI value of the venture is the product of the total number of calls, increase conversion ratio and net revenue per call deducted by OnQ.  

Ethics in Practice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ethics in Practice - Essay Example Fox also provides suggestions for improvement. She strongly points out that although we should be thankful for the efforts of DeKeseredy and Kelly in researching into the important matter regarding the abuse of women, the approach of the researchers are too presumptuous and that the real dynamics of violence and abuse are too complicated to be explained by the statistical evidence presented. The conclusions as well as the implied messages of the researchers are flawed, in that the data itself is not sufficient to reach such conclusions. Before I begin stating my thoughts regarding the authors response, let me first make it clear that I stand strongly against men abusing women and that I support efforts to research further into the matter. Abuse is very damaging to the person experiencing it, whether it may come in the form of physical, emotional, or psychological damage. However, one must be very critical in defining what is considered as an abuse, and what is not. I believe that in the research done, the line was obscure and inappropriate. It is with this that I would like to say that I am in agreement with the author, in that the research done by DeKeseredy and Kelly is flawed and biased. I personally think that, based on the readings about their research, DeKeseredy and Kelly probably lack the experience necessary for a deeper understanding of what is really going on between man and woman. I felt that their conclusions were naà ¯ve, and that they looked only on the data without really understanding what is really going on. The dynamics of relationship is truly not that simple. But despite that, I salute the researchers for at least doing the research, because this is really a matter that everyone should be concerned about. Despite the fact that reading some of their conclusions regarding men and women and some of the things implied on their research made me frown quite a lot in disagreement, I would agree at the

Stereotypical Roles And The Effects On Society Media Essay

Stereotypical Roles And The Effects On Society Media Essay Gender is a societal construct of the roles of men and women in the society. According to Asher and Lloyd, (2002), gender stereotype refers to the beliefs people hold about members of categories of men and women. Gender role are described by social scientists as socially constructed, which they vary from one culture to another. It all depends on how we are socialized in different cultures since childhood and who we interact with that defines our gender role. Most social upbringings present women as the weaker sex who needs to be protected and to just stay at home. Men on the other hand are seen as the bread winners and that they work to provide and to protect their families. Both men and women perceive the world differently according to how they are socialized. Beliefs regarding appropriate behavior also influence how men and women interact. Television has however enhanced stereotypical role in that they portray a good woman as the one who is submissive and domesticated. Femininity therefore is associated with traits that are emotional, prudent, co-operative, having communal sense and compliance to certain aspects. Television portrays women as emotional beings and that they talk more than the men. Men as per the media are suppose to demonstrate their power and authority during interaction thus they tend to dominate during conversations. Men on the other hand are portrayed as concerned with report aspects that are based on facts thus using different communication styles from women. Even within a culture masculinity and femininity may be defined differently by various groups, in particular according to ethnicity, age, social class and sexuality. In this sense there is no single masculinity or femininity, but rather multiple masculinities and femininities. Not all men are leader like, aggressive, assertive, independent, risk-taking and so on; and not all women are affectionate, gentle, sympathetic, dependent, emotional, nurturing etc. Such qualities are found in varying degrees in most people (Curran Michael.eds., 1991) They continue to argue that all men and women are aware of the cultural traditional gender stereotypes and the television network contributes to this awareness. Men will usually seek achievement and dominance in cultural expectations and that women will be with complaints and be supportive. The relationship of people to these expectations often involves tension that usually boils up. This categorization thus influences our perception and teaches us how society wants us to behave as men and women. Both men and women do the same role nowadays for example they go to work in the morning and return in the evening just like the men do. It is therefore paramount that all these stereotypes portrayed by the television are countered so that both men and women see each other as equals and that they can do the same jobs regardless of their gender. DeFleur defines socialization as a complex, long-term, and multidimensional set of communicative exchanges between individuals and various agents of society that result in the individuals preparation for life in a socio cultural environment (DeFleur, 209). According to Max Weber a German sociologist, sociology is the study of society social sciences which aimed at developing and refine a body of knowledge about human social living through critical investigation and analysis with the aim of applying gathered knowledge to the pursuit of social welfare. (Wilson, 1989) The essence of education in society has influenced the way in which cultural communities associate, in television there different target of audience and the messages portrayed are passed frequently either by male or female. Most of business advertisements uses both sex ads depending on the product they want to create awareness and likeability e.g. a company which sale motor vehicles will likely use men to pass the message while various companies that deals with body lotions or domestic products are likely to use women. However occupations equivalence is now based on education merit and professional ability to handle critical task. This helps to brainstorm working in the society where women too can do most professional jobs as their male counterparts. In recent years there has been a notable increase of women presenters and perhaps the attribute of physical attractiveness has played a huge part in their selection than for their male counterparts. The effects of gender stereotyping in todays society Greater societies have adopted gender etiquette due to political, social and economic human rights mostly communicated via the television, this role is relevant to household for well being of the society in general. Through educative programs, television is the most realistic mode of communication. Television still perpetuate traditional gender because it reflects social values, However, television shows a small, distorted view of reality, which can damage peoples views of the real world, and this can influence how people think and behave. Television has always been a male dominated area based on masculinity perspective and implicit narratives judgments. However, there are other theoretical considerations, criticisms and assumptions that arise from the cultivation theory, and which are mainly addressed in the work of Huston and Wright. Cultivation theory needs to rely on other approaches such as the influence of the family, the childs cognitive development, the amount and most import antly the type of television the child watches; this is to fully understand the socialization development. Results In the todays media fraternity departments, (e.g. television production) is highly male dominated which is influenced by stereotypes with the aspect of masculinity. However females will soon move to such technical areas due to advancement of technology whereby portable production equipments can be handled by women. Professionalism has created a balance race on job specifications curbing bias. Television alone is not enough to change people gender roles, it is vital that role models contribute broader perspective on stereotypes about what both sexes can do. ( Joyrich, 1996) To various communities watching television can be quite awful especially to little children who watch much of television, most a time can lead to complications in change of behavior, e.g. crying and other violent or excessive aggressiveness, which probably can be due to the programs which kids sees that might be violent. Statistics Research contacted by reality TV, American idol, attached over 50% market share indicating that over 50 % of television viewers watched the show, reality TVs watched all over the world and UK 2000 70% of population watched of ages 8-65+ have watch TV regularly, and Methodology The research will be conducted using primary and secondary methods, the questionnaires for data collection externally. The questionnaire will have both open-ended and closed-ended questions, this are aimed at explaining the way in which television portrays adult gender stereotypical roles and the effects this may have on todays society. Questionnaires will be advantageous to the researcher while collecting data because less time will be spent. The method will allow the researcher to collect data from the large number of respondents quickly. In addition, the respondents will have enough time to read and understand the questions before answering them. Content analysis will also be used to analyze the number of viewers and listeners based on frequency at which stereotypical roles are aired on television. This will be analyzed by stating who says what, to whom, why, to what extend and with what effect. Desk research will be collected from various books, magazines, social journals, intern et to corroborate the findings from the field. Data Analysis The data will be analyzed quantitatively using descriptive statistics with the support of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). (Nachmias Guerrerro, 1996). It says that descriptive statistics has an advantage to the researcher because it allows a researcher to organize information in an effective way and also allows information to be reduced to an understandable form. The descriptive statistics to be used will include simple tallying procedures such as frequency distributions, pie chart, bar graphs and histograms. Conclusion Television has contributed to shaping gender roles. The society has in one effect due to cultural norms streamlined the possibility that women can also work competently and there is no doubt that television is a vital tool that presents powerful attention and mind grabbing images and programs, however the anchors gender should always be balanced and not based on cultural beliefs rather profession ability to handle the task. Television today is proofing to be one of the most important and most considered medium of communication. Media has an impact in bringing change to the society, e.g. through television mass audiences get to share a variety of identical experience, socialize and others create business opportunities. Television is a set to observe positive successful ideologies and probably assume it is one source in which the society should adopt change.

Ronald Takakis Iron Cages: Race and Culture in 19th-Century America Es

Ronald Takaki's Iron Cages: Race and Culture in 19th-Century America After America declared its independence from British rule, the founding fathers faced a conundrum: How to build and maintain a successful republican government that was ultimately dependent upon the passions and character of its people. Their solution was to propose the construction of what historians have called "iron cages," which were ideological devices intended to deter the corruption and folly that might consume a free people, and instead promoterational and virtuous American citizens. Ronald Takaki expands upon this concept in his historical analysis, Iron Cages: Race and Culture in 19th-Century America, explaining that these constructs functioned specifically to separate the white man from blacks and Native Americans, who were believed to be devoid of the civility required to build a democratic nation. As patriot leaders attempted to resolve the exclusiveness of American identity to Anglo-Saxon peoples, rhetoric and reality merged to form ideology: In a land where "all men are created equal," race was constructed as a justification for why all men would not be treated equal. Takaki's book illustrates how literature came to play a vital role in the creation and reification of these racial ideologies. He states that, "What white men in power thought and did mightily affected what everyone thought and did." Americans viewed the founding fathers as interpreters of both law and society. These same men, whom Takaki names "culture makers," not only shouldered the task of explaining society, but were also instrumental in its conception. Takaki explainsthat their ideas were disseminated, and American mores were subsequently shaped through writing. Hi... ... finds America imprisoned behind a fourth "iron cage," that which acts as an amalgamation of the republican, the corporate and the demonic. He explains that, "Like the republicans of the American Revolution, we continue to insist on our right of and capacity for being self-governing individuals. But we find ourselves again under the rule of a king - an authority exterior to the self. This time, however, we cannot as easily identify the king and declare our independence." Despite the prejudice, hate and violence that seem to be so deeply entrenched in America's multiracial culture and history of imperialism, Takaki does offer us hope. Just as literature has the power to construct racial systems, so it also has the power to refute and transcend them†¦ The pen is in our hands. Works Consulted: Takaki, Ronald. Iron Cages: Race and Culture in 19th-Century America

China Rural Poverty

After Deng Xiaoping took over the power, he imposed a lot of policies to change the economic, social and political structure. The first thing that Deng insisted to do was to improve the economic growth. But the lack of concern with the rural area brings China the decline in output and income of the peasants which widened the gap between the coastal and interior areas. In the articles â€Å"Economic growth, income inequality and poverty in China under economic reforms†, the author described the improvement under Deng's policies. In â€Å"Reducing Absolute Poverty in China†, fundamental problems in education and health care aspects which remained unsolved were introduced. During these few years, the government put a great effort in minimizing the rural poverty situation and there was a significant change in the rural area. There was no doubt that China has improved from time to time, although rural poverty is always a problem for the government, they start to have better plans to implement compare to the Mao and Deng eras. Yao's article, â€Å"Economic growth, income inequality and poverty in China under economic reforms†, analyzed the failure of the Deng's policy. Because most poor people lived in the rural areas, Deng decided to reform agriculture first before reforming the urban and industrial sectors. The household production responsibility system was introduced. This system allowed farmers to keep a certain proportion of outputs after fulfilling a production quota set by the production team1. This method would be able to provide a better incentive for the peasants to work harder since now, they could get their own reward, the proportion of the production. Also, the government could still guarantee they would get the standard amount from the peasants, therefore, it seemed to be beneficial to both sides. Grain output increased from 305 to 407 million tons between 1978 and 1984. Real per capita income more than doubled, rising by 14. 9 per cent per year2. Since the reform seemed to be very successful, they began to reform the state-owned enterprises. Mao's doctrine had put a lot of ideological barriers on the economic policies and it was time to break all those. Major reform methods were introduced to raise enterprise accountability and autonomy with a flexible wage system to link work efforts with rewards more directly for individual workers3. Although existing state-own enterprises were not privatized and they would be benefited from state budgets, non-state enterprises such as private and collective sectors got a lot of advantages as well. In order to increase the agricultural output, the government encouraged the rural peasants to work hard by giving peasants more capital, establishing better incentive systems, allowing greater freedom of crop selection, changing the structure of the administration of agriculture4. The agricultural production seemed to be ameliorated during the early 1980s. In the rural areas, non-farm enterprises, particularly the township and village enterprises (TVEs) quickly developed to become a new economic force. In 1992, TVEs employed more than a quarter of the total rural labour force and contributed about 40 per cent of per capita rural income5. There was no doubt that these policies had contribution to a great amount for improving the poverty situation, it had not solve the fundamental problems for the poverty. In the article â€Å"Reducing Absolute Poverty in China†, the authors described poverty problem stepped backward after a short improve. During the second half of 1980, a few economic policies such as the increase in prices for grain and the rapid growth of the working-age population . The population exceeded the expansion of employment opportunities, created a worsening of rural underemployment from 1989 to 1990. Since the official government did not want to put as much subsidy on the farming projects, the costs for production increased quickly while the income from production remained the same. Officials tried to attract foreign investment but it was not successful because they knew the damages which had created in the countryside during the Mao era. Besides the decline in income, the township officials were exploiting peasants. They gave the peasants IOU's instead of cash so that they would have more cash to invest in new township enterprises6. Peasants did not get the â€Å"incentive† as what the government originally imposed anymore. They wanted to revolt but they found out it was useless because most of the officials were corrupted at that time. Most of the peasants commented, â€Å"Why risk so much to remove one corrupt cadre? 7 Except bearing all the exploitation, they had no other choices to choose. Although poverty had reduced from 1985 to 1990, agricultural growth and rural development did not increase a lot during the same period, therefore, only the urban areas had improved during the reform. While a lot of peasants wanted to get a chance to go to the South, most of the poor peasants were remained in the poor countryside. The author also explained the major causes of rural poverty the government did not solve. Although the overall status seemed to be improved, the government neglect about some basic aspects in the society which would affect the peasant's directly. The educational and health status of Chinese were still far way below the standard. Due to corruption the central government provided financial transfers to the poor areas of China but resources were not adequate to meet all primary education. The lack of financing, school facilities are often insufficient and ill equipped. Also, due to limited access, the teacher training programs did not work out efficiently. Although current training courses focus on content and pedagogical techniques appropriate for large urban schools, but few programs offer teachers instructional methods and skills needed for small and sometimes ethnically mixed rural schools8. At least half of the boys in the poorest villages, especially in some minority areas, and nearly all of the girls did not have a chance to receive education and achieve literacy9. The infant mortality rate in some very poor counties exceeded 10 percent which was greater than the national level by one fold. Diseases such as tuberculosis and iodine deficiency disorders concentrated in poor areas. Half of the children were malnutrition because they did not even have enough food to eat. In the health aspect, although China has reached a national health status comparable to many middle-income countries, people in the rural areas never had sufficient access to basic health service. During the 1980s, the government budgetary funding declined from 30 percent of total health expenditures to 19 percent. Although the number of health institution and doctors increased each year since 1980 in a national level, the statistics did not apply to the rural villages. The government support for rural doctors decreased by 45 percents in the same time period10. Due to the poor education and health systems, rural peasants were suffering from the poverty with no chance to make themselves better off. Since the government noticed the serious problem which remained in the countryside, they started to impose some poverty reduction program in late 1980s and early 1990s. The Agricultural Development Bank of China offered subsidized loans for poor-area development through provincial bank branches and county- and lower-level banks. The regional office of the State Planning Commission administers a food-for-work program assisted in building roads and other transportation systems, drinking water systems, irrigation works and other capital construction in poor areas. In addition, each of 27 central ministries and agencies has its own special poor-area project and every province has its own specially funded programs11. In 1986, the government found 331 poor counties which were eligible for development assistance. The program provided aid in providing labour for road construction and drinking water facilities. Living standard increased because of that. These programs contributed to the construction of 131,000 km. of roads, 7,900 bridges and 2,400 km. of inland river channels. Water supply conditions for 20 million people and 13 million animals were improved12. They also selected some provinces to get the provincial funding based on their situations. The poverty reduction strategy was announced in the eighth Five-Year Plan during 1991-1995. Once again, they put emphasis on supporting the poor-area agriculture and rural enterprise through subsidized loans. The government's poverty reduction strategy was further defined during the National Seven-Year Plan in 1994 to 2000. They had a few plans such the concentration of available funding in the poorest counties and the improvement in access of the poor to employment opportunities outside the poor areas, greater investment in the development of human capital, funding for health, education and relief services in the poorest areas and the continuing investment in poor-area agricultural, rural enterprise, road and other rural infrastructure development projects13. The Central Committee and the State Council issued a blueprint for solving the problem of inadequate food and clothing for China's rural poor in 1997. The government will allocate an additional $180 million to help build the agricultural and facilities and apply scientific and technological advances in rural areas. The better tools and equipment they have, the faster they can build up the economic system. $350 million will increase government loans for the poor annually. The priority of the use of funding is the irrigation, infrastructure and transport projects. The government would guarantee that households short of food and clothing would be exempt from state-fixed quotas on grain purchasing and some agricultural taxes. Industrial enterprises built in poor areas will be exempted from income tax for the first three years. Economically developed coastal regions and municipalities will be encouraged to establish ties with inland areas and assist with funds, technology transfer, information and technical personnel. The central government will offer training courses for officials and managerial personnel in poor areas. The government tries to use these methods and regulations to improve the rural development so that it can catch up with the urban areas as soon as possible. Since the Chinese government wanted to be competitive among the whole world, they now had the motivation to improve the poverty situation. According to China's State Statistical Bureau, 250 million people, 31 percent of the rural population, were living in poverty in 1978, all of them in the countryside. By 1985 this number was cut in half to 125 million14. At that point, the Chinese government started the first major rural development program assisting the rural poor. However, with implementation of a coastal development and financial decentralization, policies that would accelerate economic growth nationally but exacerbate the plight of significant sections of the rural poor and slow poverty reduction. The government started to concern about the rural poverty issue in 1990s, they applied a lot of financial aid programs and relief programs to deal with the problem. Premier Zhu Rongji delivered a speech in the Central Poverty Relief and Development Working Conference in May 2001. He concluded that China's rural poverty situation is improving during the last twenty years. Although there is still a long way to go in order to minimize the gap between the coastal and rural area, and to defeat the rural poverty, the government have the confidence that they will be able to improve themselves so that they will be able to compete with the foreign in all aspects.

Alcoholism

Alcoholism Free Online Research Papers Alcoholism Alcoholism is one of the biggest medical problems in the Western world. Alcohol has been around since biblical times. The problem continues to grow every year and has a negative impact on society. Nearly every town and city has restaurants that serve alcohol, and has stores where it can be purchased. For these reasons, the nature of alcoholism needs to be exposed. The problems that arise from this disease need to be shown. The purpose of this paper is to talk about the problem, the cause and effects, and the treatment process. Alcoholism is the habitual or compulsive consumption of alcoholic liquor to excess according to Webster’s New World Dictionary. An alcoholic has no control over drinking and continues to use alcohol even though adverse consequences occur (Hurley 71). Alcohol affects the alcoholic’s family and work, they ignore responsibilities and assignments. In nineteen fifty six alcoholism was recognized as a disease by the American Medical Association. (Fishman 28) When the National Council for Education on Alcoholism (now known as the National Council on Alcohol and Drug Dependency) was formed, their first and most prominent principle was, â€Å"Alcoholism is a disease† (Nicolaus 136). The disease has serious consequences on the drinker and society as well. Even though there is much concern about drugs, next to tobacco, alcohol is the most widely used drug in the United States (Hurley 71). Alcohol impaired drivers caused thirty two percent of traffic related fatalities in two thousand eight (â€Å"Alcohol Impaired Driving†). In 1996 nearly thirty six percent of incarcerated criminals were under the influence of alcohol when committing their crime (â€Å"Alcohol and Crime†). Indeed, alcoholism has become a public concern, since it had begun to influence society as well. There are two types of alcoholism, alcohol abuse and alcohol dependency. An example of alcohol abuse is random binge drinking. A person is alcohol dependent when that person can’t stop drinking without withdrawal symptoms. â€Å"There is no known cause of alcoholism.† (Van Voorhees) Alcoholism is described as a drug addiction. There are several factors that play in its development. They are divided into two main groups, psychological and social. Psychological factors include anxiety relief, conflict in relationships, depression and low self-esteem. Some examples of social factors are the ease of getting alcohol, peer pressure, social acceptance of alcohol use, and a stressful lifestyle. (Van Voorhees) There are other factors that lead to excessive drinking. â€Å"Research suggests that certain genes may increase the risk of alcoholism, but which genes or how they work is not known.† (Van Voorhees) Studies have shown that family history is a factor as well. People whose parents abused alcohol have a higher risk of alcoholism. It is a given that alcoholism leads to physical and mental problems. But how does excessive consumption of alcohol affect the daily life of alcoholics? What are the effects of alcoholism in everyday life? The organ most sensitive to alcohol is the brain. The cerebrum is affected first. It is in control of sensation, perception, speech, and judgment. The cerebellum is the second part of the brain affected. The cerebellum is responsible for coordination and balance. A person under the influence of alcohol will have slurred speech, loss of balance and uncoordinated movements. The excessive alcohol user is usually unable to judge accurately what he or she can or cannot do. Drinking alcohol increases confidence and diminishes abilities. This misplaced confidence often leads people to judge themselves competent to perform tasks that are beyond their abilities. (Fishman 37-41) An alcoholic’s job and family are also affected by alcoholism. In couples it affects communication, which in turn, increases conflict levels. It has also been proven that domestic violence increases in alcoholic families. Alcohol use affects parenting. Family life can become chaotic and have poor quality environment. The children are exposed to the parent’s increased conflict (Alcohol and the Family). An alcoholic’s attendance to work is affected by drinking. They are chronically late and their productivity is decreased. The effects of alcohol in everyday life can be further explained through specific examples. In terms of finances, an alcoholic would be irresponsible. The bills would not be paid on time, prompting the collection agencies to take action. An alcoholic would not be stable enough to manage his or her own money; thus, incapacity for money management is an effect of alcoholism in everyday life. In terms of employment or schooling, an alcoholic is most likely to be tardy. However, the person can altogether skip school or work to drink. Even socializing with friends is affected by alcoholism. An alcoholic usually does not like it when other people offer their opinion about his or her drinking habits. He or she is irritated by comments and critiques of their drinking. As a result, the alcoholic would soon drink in secrecy. Another effect of alcoholism in everyday life is the lapses in memory and interest. Due to the aforementioned effect on the brain, it follows that even memory is not spared from the dangers of alcohol. Alcoholics usually suffer from â€Å"blackouts† (Fishman 40). These are instances when they could not remember appointments and the like. Moreover, the activities that the person used to enjoy would cease to be enjoyable, due to the effect of alcoholism (Fishman 42). These are some of the examples of how alcoholism affects everyday life. Alcoholism is a treatable disease. There are treatments available for this condition, and several medications have made it possible for alcoholics to fully recover. In the treatment of alcoholism, there are several steps to take into account: intervention, detoxification and rehabilitation (Fishman 60). The first step is intervention. It takes someone else to point out the problem for them to realize that they need to get help. The most familiar approach in intervention is the confrontation between alcoholics and the concerned party. It was only recently when studies have shown that intervention would be more effective if it was done with â€Å"compassion and empathy† (Medline). The next step is detoxification. The objective of this step is to stop the drinking of alcoholic beverages. This phase in the treatment is tough for the alcoholic, as the intake of alcohol will suddenly be stopped. That is why detoxification usually takes place in an inpatient set-up, in which the environment is â€Å"controlled and supervised† (Van Voorhees). During the process, every medication is cautiously measured to hinder withdrawal from taking place. The moment the symptoms of withdrawal are absent, the giving of medications would be gradually stopped. The duration of detoxification usually lasts from four to seven days. These days, there is a kind of detoxification that is in the outpatient set-up, but still under the guidance of a physician. While in detoxification treatment, it is important that the patient has a balanced diet, as well as vitamin supplements. This is because there are complications that happen with alcohol withdrawal, and the patient must b e as healthy as possible (Fishman 83-84). If the detoxification process stops people from consuming alcohol, the rehabilitation process guides people to fully recover by staying away from alcohol (Van Voorhees). This fourth step in the treatment is more comprehensive, as it prepares the patient for complete recovery in the long run. Not only does rehabilitation stop people from drinking, it allows them to create a network of support to encourage their continuous road to recovery. Rehabilitation programs usually involve â€Å"counseling, psychological support, therapy, education and skills training† (Fishman 85-88). There are two kinds of rehabilitation programs: the shorts of which include SMART Recovery, Women for Sobriety, and Alcoholics Anonymous (Van Voorhees). There are three recognized medications in treating alcoholism. The first one is Disulfiram. The medicine works by disrupting the metabolism of alcohol, causing a metabolite that would make the person sick if he drinks even a small amount of alcohol about two weeks after taking the medicine. The second drug is Acamprosate. It is believed that this drug helps people to abstain from alcohol; it also decreases the symptoms that come with abstinence (â€Å"Alcoholism†). The third drug is Naltrexone, which works on the brain to decrease alcohol cravings (Barbour 145-146). It is crucial that people are made aware of the causes, effects and treatments of alcoholism. This awareness would help prevent the problem of alcoholism. People should be reminded that alcoholism is not just the problem of an individual but also of society. Alcohol and the Family. Aug 2004. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Web. 15 Dec 2009. . Barbour, Scott. Alcohol. San Diego: Greenhaven Pr, 1998. 145-146. Print. Fishman, Ross. Alcohol and alcoholism. New York, NY: Chelsea House Pub, 1986. Print Hurley, Jennifer. Addiction. San Diego: Greenhaven Pr, 2000. Print. MayoClinic.com. Alcoholism. 08 May 2008. Mayo foundation for Medical Education and Research. Web. 15 Dec 2009 . National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Alcohol-Impaired Driving. , 2008. Web. 28 Nov. 2009. Neufeldt, Victoria, and David Guralnik. Webster. 3rd college. New York, NY: Webster, 1989. Print. Nicolaus, Martin. Empowering Your Sober Self. 1st. San Francisco, CA: Jossy-Bass, 2009. Print. United States Department of Justice. Alcohol and Crime. , 2008. Web. 28 Nov 2009. Van Voorhees, Benjamin. MedlinePlus. Alcoholism. 15 Jan 2009. Web. 15 Dec 2009. . Research Papers on AlcoholismThe Relationship Between Delinquency and Drug UseThe Effects of Illegal ImmigrationCapital PunishmentRelationship between Media Coverage and Social andThree Concepts of PsychodynamicInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesGenetic EngineeringIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in CapitalAssess the importance of Nationalism 1815-1850 EuropeEffects of Television Violence on Children

Using the Spanish Verb Creer

Using the Spanish Verb Creer With few exceptions, the Spanish verb creer can be used much the same way as the English verb to believe. It sometimes can be a bit weaker in meaning than to believe and is thus often better translated as to think. In other words, creer is often used to mean that someone believes something is probable rather than that it is a certain fact. Creer Que When a statement is made about what a person believes or thinks, creer is typically followed by que and the statement of belief: Creo que el presidente hizo lo que tenà ­a que hacer. I think the president did what he had to do.Los mayas creeron que las formas en la luna que muchos ven como el hombre en la luna son un conejo que salta. The Mayans believed that the shapes in the moon that many see as the man in the moon are a jumping rabbit.Creen que los estudiantes no estudian. They think the students arent studying.Creemos que tenemos una mà ­nima chance. We believe we have a slight chance. No Creer If creer is used in a negative form, the verb following que typically is in the subjunctive mood: No creo que el paà ­s està © en crisis. I dont think the country is in a crisis.No creemos que exista un telà ©fono perfecto para todos. We dont believe there exists a perfect telephone for everyone.La Comisià ³n Europea no cree que el motor de bà ºsqueda vulnere la privacidad del usuario. The European Commission doesnt believe that the search engine violates the users privacy. Creer Object Creer also can be followed by a direct object rather than que: No creo lo que me dices. I dont believe what youre telling me.Cree las noticias malas y desconfà ­a de las buenas. He believes the bad news and distrusts the good news.Creo la televisià ³n. I believe the television. Creer En Creer en is typically the equivalent of the English to believe in or to have faith in. It can mean either to give credence to a concept or to have trust or faith in a person. Algunos no creen en la evolucià ³n. Some dont believe in evolution.Creo en la educacià ³n bilingà ¼e. I believe in bilingual education.No creemos en las polà ­ticas de extrema derecha. We dont believe in the politics of the extreme right.Cuando se lucha por una causa, es porque se cree en ella. When one fights for a cause, it is because one believes in it.Parece que el à ºnico que cree en Pablo es à ©l mismo. It seems that the only one who believes in Pablo is he himself.El paà ­s cree en Presidente y en las fuerzas armadas. The country trusts the president and the armed forces. Creer In a Religious Context In some contexts, creer standing alone can have a religious meaning, just as does to believe in English. Thus in some contexts, Creo (I believe) is the equivalent of Creo en Dios (I believe in God). Creerse The reflexive form, creerse, is often used with little discernible change in meaning from creer. However, the reflexive form sometimes is used to add emphasis: Me creo que eres mi ngel de la guarda. (I truly believe you are my guardian angel.) The negative reflexive form often offers a tone of incredulity:  ¡No me lo creo! (I cant believe it!) Related Words Creer is a cousin of English words such as creed, credibility, credible and credence, all of which have meanings related to the concept of belief. Related words in Spanish include creencia (belief), creà ­ble (credible), credo (creed), creyente (believer) and crà ©dulo (credulous). Negative forms use the prefix in-: increencia, increà ­ble, incrà ©dulo. Conjugation Creer is conjugated regularly in terms of pronunciation but not in terms of spelling. Irregular forms youre most likely to run across are the past participle (creà ­do), the gerund (creyendo) and the preterite forms (yo creà ­, tu creà ­ste, usted/à ©l/ella creyà ³, nosotros/as creà ­mos, vosotros/as creà ­steis, ustedes/ellos/ellas creyeron).

Virtual Work Place Practise Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Virtual Work Place Practise - Essay Example The case study was covered in â€Å"Visual Workplace Practice Positively Impacts Business Process,† benchmarking an International Journal. Case Problem According to the case study, businesses in the modern business environment are more concerned about their cost of production than their customer’s satisfaction. It is evident that the abilities of a business to survive in the modern competitive environment depend on its profit margins and the sustainability of their customer base. This indicates that customers also have a stake in determining the sustainability of a business. From the case study, the virtual world has endless opportunities that businesses can exploit to enhance their sustainability. In businesses, virtual world is usually associated with communication. This association shields the possibilities of virtual tools in taking businesses to the next level. Communication is of less economic value to business and their customers. However, communication has addit ional benefits to the business that indicate commercial value to a business. The basic value derived from communication is efficiency, which results in reduced costs of operation and customers satisfactions. The business depicted in the case study is a supplier of medical equipment. Before the business adopted its current information system, the business depended on the traditional receipts and invoices to accounts for its sales and credits. In addition, the business depended on traditional filing system without any concrete information backup or database. This method of operation had many disadvantages to the business resulting in the need for an up-to-date business solution. The business required a business solution that would integrate its sales, supplies and enhance the capabilities of the customers. Initially the company applied start-up software and basic templates to handle its data requirements. In addition, the company relied on manual processing of information to make simp le custom reports. This method of operation was disadvantageous to both the customers and the company. Reporting was also a major problem that the business had to handle in its daily operations. This is because its accounting systems could not link historical data with the current data. To solve the problems the business required to a have a database that had the capabilities of storing large quantities of data (Braden, Thomas, Larry, & Leonard, 2012). In addition, the business required a system that would make historical data easily accessible to the customers. The business also needed a system that would enhance separation of critical information from other junk information. This indicates that the business relied on an information system that was too complex to be understood by its customers and other stakeholders. Solution After analysing the problems, the business managers noted that an obvious solution would be an efficient and interactive information system. The company also required investing in an information system that would reduce complexity in the operations of its customers and employees. The business also required transferring its historical information and sales records into a new database. An effective solution would also enhance the corporate social responsibility of the business. The first target of the new information system

Hannah Hoch and the Dada Art Movement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Hannah Hoch and the Dada Art Movement - Essay Example The creation of collages was not long in following and became a mainstay of the Dadaist movement, particularly as it evolved into the concept of photomontage.   Artists during this period struggled against the concept that art created spiritual values and frequently used the products of their creative spirit to protest against the First World War. Beginning in France in about 1916, the movement’s progress and development can be seen in context with the Great War, which started in 1914 and was waged for four years. While this artistic movement didn’t start until two years after the war began, about when the populace, artists among them, was beginning to feel the pressure of constant warlike states, it also persisted for a few years after it ended as the populace, again with artists among them, became reconciled to the new world order thus established. The development of this movement is most frequently associated with artists such as Raoul Hausmann, Kurt Schwitters and Marcel Duchamp, among other male artists, but less well known is the equally contributive Hannah Hoch. This investigation into the Dada Movement will, therefore, focus upon Hoch’s contributions to the movement and her artwork as representative of it. The foundation of the Dada Movement is actually attributed to artists in Zurich, Switzerland and in New York, America. It is described in the Merriam-Webster’s Encyclopedia of Literature as a â€Å"nihilistic movement in the arts †¦ that was based on the principles of deliberate irrationality, anarchy, and cynicism and the rejection of laws of beauty and social organization† (cited in Buell, 1998). The name of the movement was arrived at with the same lack of reverence as the movement itself, reportedly arrived at by chance and retained because of its childlike associations. One of its chief goals was to undermine the â€Å"rational and civilized standards† then in place in the art world by exploring the icons of the old world, placing them in new contexts so as to expose a lack of inherent meaning in the work.