Refusal Skills Study Essay

1. What are they asking me to do and why? (10 points) To attend a party because he/she said that the party will be so much fun and he/she wants you to come. 2. Label what they are asking you to do (i.e. illegal, dangerous, etc.). (10 points) To have your friend cover for you if your parents call. to do drugs, have sex and drink alcohol. 3. Determine the consequences if you get caught or if you participate in this activity. (10 points) If you get caught, you lose all of your parents trust because they didnt want you to go but you did anyway. 4. Communicate my refusal. (10 points) I cant do drugs or drink alcohol, No thank you. 5. Say no. (10 points) No, I cant. 6. Use â€Å"I† statements. (10 points) Im sorry but I cann’t do any of that. 7. Suggest an alternative. (10 points) No, But lets go to the park instead. 8. Leave the scene and avoid questionable places. (10 points) Im going to call someone to come and pick me up. Personal Reflections 1. Explain how healthy behaviors and choices can positively affect your health status and how unhealthy behaviors and choices will negatively affect your health status. (10 points) Choosing healthy behaviors and choices can really have an positively affect your health status becausing choosing not to smoke or do anything that can harm, makes you feel more alive, more happy, more outgoing and having self control on your actions. But choosing unhealthy behaviors and choices will have an negative afftect your health status because haveing poorly health desicions can damage you and your health, make poor lifestyles, making poorly chioces can make you an unhappy person. 2. Compare a time when one of your peers influenced healthy behavior to a time when a peer has influenced unhealthy behavior in your life. (10 points) When one of my peers had influence me to dont do drugs or drink or anything they really influenced my health because they dont want me to have no negative in my life just a positive attittude and be a more happy person unlike when one of my friends tryed to get me to smoke like them and drink like them, they tryed for my life to be unhealthy and have unhealthy behavior and they want me to lie to my to my parent at one time.

Does Ma Relevant

Has The Management Accounting Information in Malaysia Losing Its Relevancy? Rosniza Binti Ramli Universiti Teknologi Mara, Malaysia. Abstract Malaysia is one of the developing countries that affected by the globalization process and emerging economic environment throughout the world. To be sustain in future, Malaysia organization especially should cope and response effectively with the changes in economic sector. But, has the management accounting information can help the manager in making good decision for their organization?Does management accounting in Malaysia also evolve or changes due to an emerging economic environment? Research papers on Relevance Lost: The rise and Falls of Management Accounting and Evolution of Management Accounting (IFAC, 1998) will be discussed further in this research in order to have better understanding about changes and evolution of management accounting in Malaysia. This research done by reviewing the prior research, articles, thesis and journals. Th e changes and evolution has been found based on the reviewed of prior research.Introduction Research papers on Relevance Lost by Johnson and Kaplan found and gave us the picture of the rise and fall of management accounting throughout the centuries. The authors explored about nineteenth-century cost management system, efficiency, profit and scientific management on 1880 to 1910 until management lost its relevance on 1980s. Furthermore they analysed and explored the new global competition and new systems for process control and product costing and also performance measurement system for the future.In nineteeth- century, companies having a transformation process from two or more process into a single economic activity. In all cases, the information focus on how to improve the process of managing the resources effectively and also do determine the sources of companies profit. In late nineteenth-century, conversion cost system was emerged to systematic management where focused on determ ination of correct information about efficiency of workers in mass-produced complex machine –made. Taylor and Emerson devised new accounting procedures to assess the efficiency of the task and processes in complex machine-making firms.Futhermore, Church’s devices to use product costing in order to determine how much profit of individual product contribute to the firm’s overall profitability. But, G. P Norton rely on th standard cost information and comparing an integrated multiprocesstextile company’s performance with profit earned internally. After 1900, the integrated firms developed system to track the performance of the company and use one common denominator, return on investment that give attention to the amount of capital invested in the enterprise.Furthermore, after 1900, based on discussion on cost accounting’s lost relevance for cost management, the managers not compile accurate product costs data and affect their judgement on the costs an d benefits of such information not lost sense of the relevant information to management decision. The inventory costs information did not reflect the accurate guide to determine the product cost and in complex real-word setting, it also not relevant for actual management decisions.When multidivisional organization first appear around 1920, they used ROI (return on investment) targets to assess the performance of managers. On 1980s, the author claimed that contemporary management accounting systems were became obsolete and affected the large organization. The information provided were not help in reflected the effective and efficiency of internal process. Besides that, the organization were became vulnerable to competiton and more focused organization. In the nest chapter, authors discussed the new global competiton of the 1980s.The revolution of economic condition were contributed by the Japanese manufacturing where develop the innovative practice in management accounting such as to tal quality management, just-in –time inventory system and computer integrated manufacturing system. Most of the firm more focused not on the reducing cost of product but on the different strategies to attract customer with special product and services. In other word, competitive advantage that made organization more competitive than their rivals.They were more interested to create the value of the firms and how to create long term economic wealth. Since the early twentieth century, technology has taken part and eliminated all manual operation and replaced with digital technology. Products can be processed using machine for controlled manufacturing operations company. Furthermore, the new challenges to the firm is to develop the new approach, tools and technique to design the effective cost accounting, management control and performance measurement system.Other than that, the authors also discussed on process control and product costing systems. The objectives requires separa te system for financial reporting, process control and product costing because each systems have different time frame for the activities, where process costing reported hourly, daily, weekly. Financial reporting system reported annually and quartelly and product cost information requires a longer time horizon. They also differ in terms of traceability and allocation, behaviour, set of relevant costs and audiences.In the last chapter, authors argued that existing sytems are not posible to measure the performance of the firms. The short-term financial performance measurement has been undermined by changes in technology and innovation in the firms production operations. The measurement should be reflects the greater complexity of product and process in the firm and consisten with the firms goal and objectives. Firm should also need to determined the inadequacy of any single financial measure in order to summarie the economic performance of the firm during short periods.Research paper o f Evolution of Management Accounting (IFAC, 1998) were discussed the evolution of management accounting by Financial and Management Accounting Committee (FMAC) of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC). They claimed that management accounting has developed through four evolutionary stages under Western approach. First stage, prior to 1950 focus was on cost determination and financial control and the main source of data was from financial statement. On that time, ratio and financial statement analysis were very popular.The second stage, years of 1965, focus changed to the provision of information for management decision-making, planning and control such as decision analysis and responsibility accounting. The techniques that support the decision analysis were Cost-volume –profit, and marginal costing. By the year 1985 in the stage three, attention was focused on the reduction or managed the waste in business resources, through the elimination of non-value added acti vities, use of mathematical formula such as Economic Order Quantity (EOQ), inventory evaluation such as FIFO, LIFO and multiple regressions.The fourth stage by 1995, focused had shifted to the generation or creation of value through the effective use of resources, through the use of technologies which examine the drivers of customer value, shareholder value and organizational innovation. The advanced management accounting methods that were popular such as Just-in-Time (JIT), Balanced Score Card, and Strategic management. IFAC (1998) had identified most of the developed countries had shifted to this stage between the years of 1985 to 1995.Japanese or Eastern perspective on the evolution of management accounting also consists of four stages, namely Drifting, Traditional, Quantitative and Integrative Management Accounting. The drifting management accounting such as ratio analysis, traditional such as budgetary control and standard costing, while quantitative such as mathematical formul a and equation and integrative such as JIT, Target Costing and Kaizen. Literature review Based on the review of the prior study, there are some purposes to be review. First, the problems with modern US cost accounting and management control system and challenges and recommendation to overcome it.Second, changes in management accounting practices in Malaysia. Third, the rise and fall of activity based costing. Forth, the management accounting practice in selected Asian country. Fifth, the current state of mangement accounting practice in selected Malaysian companies. Problems, challenges and recommendation of modern US cost accounting and management control system The problems arose in the cost accounting and management accounting were, the business ran by the manager based on the financial performance or in numbers.Johnson and Kaplan addressed that the process of cost and management accouting have developed to the stage where senior executives believe they can run their firms by the numbers (p 15). They were recommended that the firm should relates the human performance in organization both internally through management accounting and externally through financial accounting. They also suggested that Western approach to managing by the numbers, based in financial measure of control were became powerful of control in US and increasingly in UK business organization and remain acceptable in Japanese industry.Based on the prior research Mahmoud Ezzamel (1990), he and collegues criticts on the suggestion by Johnson and Kaplan and gave alternative ways of acounting for the problem with cost accounting. They do not agree with the precise history that Johnson and Kaplan told, with the understanding of accounting and its power to which their history leads them. They told a history that basically good but went increasingly wrong. Mahmoud Ezzamel also argued that cost management based upon accounting has problem and bound to be problematic and that this is what the histor y of 19th century accounting such as how to find true cost shows.From the historical development of cost management and cost accounting, Johnson and Kaplan derive a diagnosis of the causes of a modern ‘disease’. Changes in management accounting practices in Malaysia Malaysia has moved towards global competitivenesss, this changes makes manufacturing companies in Malaysia need to ensure their business operation and management cope with the current changes. ( Tuan Zainun, 2011). This prior study carried out to investigate how changes in Management accounting practice took place in Malaysia companies.Following Johnson and Kaplan (1987), MAP have been further developed for better decision making and management control. Globalization has brought the new and advanced technology and made a developing country open to greater competition (Kassim et al, 2003). This condition were affect the MAP in a business organization in order to fit the changes in the business operation. This study can be an evidence that the management accounting information change due to certain reason and made it relevance to be used by the companies. The rise and fall of activity based costing.Activity based costing tool can help the firm to determine the cost effectively based on the cost pool and cost driver. ABC is still the most appropriate cost system in management accounting. Many advantages of using ABC system in the firm such as ABC data is more accurate and reliable than traditional costing. It also can be used for decision making and performance evaluation. Furthermore, Kaplan, Weiss and Desheh (1997) reported the successful implementation of ABC transfer prices at Pharmaceutical Industries, which diminished the endless disputes between the marketing and production departments.ABC also handles overhead costs and leads to a better understanding of the cost drivers that generate these cost. Besides that, ABC also suitable to implemented by the service organization sucha s go vernment organization, insurance firms and banks. But, ABC also have the weaknesses such as ABC is based on subective arbitary cost allocations where ABC costing system more complicated and cannot predict profits and not adequate for decision making. ABC also ignores constraints and not take an account a bottleneck. The cost of the various products are irrelevant for product mix decision.ABC regards the relation between activities and resource consumption as linear, absolute and certain, where in reality the cost is discontinue. Even though most of firms tried ABC ultimately decided to abandon it, they did seem to regard it favorably, based on many case studies and articles (R. Cooper and R. S. Kaplan, 1991). ABC should emphasize the need to focus and cut down the cost of operational complexity. Management accounting practice in selected Asian country Prior study by Maliah Sulaiman observed the management accounting practices in Asian countries, Singapore, India, Malaysia and China. Authors claimed to be excellent in running the business and to be competitive in the global economic, firm should use the advance management techniques such as Just in Time, ABC, TQM and process re-engineering. Various authors have argued that traditional budgeting and cost volume profit analysis are no longer adequate to be used as planning andd control tools in the present manufacturing environment (Brownwich and Bhimani,1994). Many have predicted that traditional tools cannot cope with the changes of the shorter product life cycles, advanced manufacturing technologies and global competition.Its very important to determine the practices of management accounting in the real world because it can help the academician to have an accurate pictures for their teaching, if not, the accounting curriculum should be change to better reflect the needs of industry. Willett et al (1997) concern that studies on the management accounting practices in this region lag behind studies in financial ac counting. Choi and Mueller, 1992 cited that accounting is a product of it environment, means accounting is shaped by the environment, so different countries have different practice on mangement accounting.The current state of mangement accounting practice in selected Malaysian companies Prior study, Ghosh and Chan (1997) indicated that management accounting practice in Singapore, many of the firms already used various of management accounting techniques but not more used new technique such as the ABC and TQM system. Most of the local company were not competitive and lag behind the multinational companies. The study also indicated that Singapore companies not improve their management tools since 1997. they also avoided of used the advanced toos because they claimed that the implementation of the dvanced tools required complex process and additional resources needed. Then, Adelegan (2001) were studied on companies in Nigeria, where most of the companies only focused on process of cost determination and financial control uing budgets and cost accounting technologies. They has fully in the second stage and on the move to the third stage of evolution. Nishimura (2002) that conducted research on the Japanese affiliates in three Asian countries of Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand claimed that most of the companies in that countries had shifted from the traditional management accounting practices to the next stage of evolution.It was also found that some of the companies were move towards by using the advanced management accounting technique. There also research conducted in Malaysia that studied on the small and medium industry by Omar, Abdul Rahman and Zainal Abidin in year 2002. The research found that SMIs in the Klang Valley were still relying on the simple and not complicated management accounting practices such as budget and standard costing but they seemed to have acceptance of the advanced management accounting techniques and there was a positive trend toward s the implementation of these new techniques in the future.Findings The result from the review of the articles, found that, Johnson and Kaplan rediscovery the management accounting system in the nineteenth century history is more about the practical business management not only the historical question. These major achievements were important to the international management accounting and culture. But, in the 1980s, the management accounting has been developed. Then due to modern process of production technologies and global competition, the information was become irrelevant.They claimed that the cost accounting is by-product of the financial accounting, so firms decided not to maintain Management accounting system separated from financial accounting system because of too expensive for them. Besides that, the irrelevance became worsen due to short-termism where the financial accounting only focuses on the short-term results, the control function, timing being too aggregated and unhel pful to organization. Then the academic accounting also failed to focus on the routine financial accounting consistently and the academic writing has lost touch with real world concerns.Furthermore, the major innovations in US firms lead to the failure of the MAS to provide managers with the information they need. The recommendations There are third recommendations by Johnson and Kaplan, first MAS should render more relevant time frames for the activities undertaken by the firm, where should have reporting cycle specific with the process control such as daily, weekly or hourly. In product costing, MAS should change the short –term decisions in management accounting texts into longer time horizon to have better strategic decisions.Second, the allocation of the cost between product and process control should be different to be focused on flexible budgets. Then the cost allocation for the product should be trace in order for the firms to develop strategic decisions on the produc t development and discontinuance. Third, the future performance measurement should be based on long term measures, not forgotten the non-financial indicators to highlight the firms performance in many areas such as marketing and manufacturing.The changes of Management accounting practices in Asian country Furthermore, from the reviewed of the articles and journals, found that the Management Accounting practices have a significant change in traditional and advanced MAP in Malaysia manufacturing companies from 2003 to 2007. The changes might be because of changes in the business environment and the competition and advanced technology used by the firms.This factor encourages the emergence of MAP in order to serves the organization with the accurate and reliable information to make a better decision in achieving the objectives of the organization. It also found that the manufacturing companies in Malaysia relied on the foreign multinational companies for export. This condition leads to sharing or transferring the advanced MAS to be adopted by Malaysian manufacturing companies. Besides that, the result showed that the increased in the use of MAP in manufacturing companies in parallel with the advanced technology used in the manufacturing.The changes also shows that the management accounting in Malaysia recently have through the process of evolution and keep changes to cope with the business environment challenges. In the other hand, management accounting practices in Asians countries such as Singapore, India, Malaysia, and China the evidence reviewed suggest that there were not used the contemporary management accounting tools as a whole. For example evidence in India, most of the company still uses traditional management accounting techniques (Joshi, 2001).They resistance to change to the new tools were because of the manager perception and culture that risk averse or not a risk taker. They also claimed that a lot of cost will incur in implementing the new tools i n their organization. Same goes in Singapore where most of the companies used the traditional tools because they claimed that no reasons for them to change to the new tools. It also due to lack of expertise, knowledge and top management support to implement the new tools of management accounting.In Malaysia and China, most of the company there also still uses the traditional method and they claimed maybe they will change to new tools such as Balance score card and ABC in the next five years. Based on other articles, the current state of management accounting practice in Malaysia, there have seven techniques of management accounting that popular such as, budgets, income statement analysis, cash flow analysis, balance sheet and financial ratio analysis, cost and benefit analysis and finally the product costing.This is indicated that the stage one and stage two of management accounting still be practice by selected Malaysian companies. For the use of stage three and stage four among th em are extremely low. But most of the selected companies in Malaysia have evolved into the third and fourth stage of management accounting evolution. (Rosmawati, 2004) In order to enhancing the management accounting practice in Malaysia, the professional body should have unit to implement and promotes the use of advance management accounting practices.Furthermore, academician and also practitioner, or business organization should work together and discuss further about the needs and roles of management accountant in order to develop new definition of the management accounting in the country. It’s important to build a communication between the academician and practitioner because practitioner should informed the changes of the practices uses in organization to academician, so it will help in constructing the better curriculum for students that can reflects the real world practices.Other than that, proper planning should be constructing to educate the practitioner and also publ ic by conducting the seminar in management accounting, so they will alert and realize with the evolution and new techniques in management accounting. Next, academician especially should be encouraged to write the articles, journal and research that reflects the evolution of the current management accounting practices. Then, it should be publicize in the magazines in order to spread the new information regarding the new management accounting practices to the business organization or public. The rise and fall of Activity based costingActivity based costing now still being used in most of the companies in the world, even though the system have problem because many organizations regard their cost systems for financial reporting, decision-making decentralization, price justification, control and performance measurement. But, ABC requires more efforts and skills without better results, so, the alternative are to hold to the traditional cost system. Prior case study, Y. Eden (2002) said it was disappointment with traditional cost accounting and lack of appropriate alternatives that prompted the initial enthusiasm for ABC.Managers also felt that the traditional cost accounting is not relevance, so they should do something to overcome it. Even though most firms that tried ABC decided to neglect it, they did seem to regard it favorably. However, the benefits to the firms not from the cost allocation data but from the ABC pilots involved thorough analysis of processes and costs and drew attention to neglected aspects of organizational activities. ABC systems just need to focus and to cut down the cost of operational complexity.But when manager realized these lessons, the complex data not make the improvements, so they used non-financial measurements. Conclusion From the reviewed, the management accounting practices and information in Malaysia will lost it relevancy if process of evolution did not take into action. Due to rapid changing in the global business environment, management accounting information should not lag behind it in order to stand in line with the advanced technology changes. With that, Malaysia should start to implement the advanced management accounting techniques in managing and control the business activities.It’s important to help them use the resources effectively and to measure the performance efficiently. New advanced management accounting practice implementation will contribute significantly for creating the value and also to maintain the sustainability of the organization in the future. Management accountant also should play role and becoming a part of management team in the organization. This is to make sure that the management accounting information will remain relevant in the new challenging business environment.Nishimura (2003), management accountant should work together with other practitioner such as engineer, marketing directors, designer and product directors so management accountant will understand more the ir work field and they will share opinion and recommendation with fulfill the various needs and goal from different departments and then come out will ultimate goal and objectives that can help the organization to achieve it successfully. Moreover, the suitable changes in their MAP especially in manufacturing companies should maintain effectiveness of the business activities.The advanced and traditional system should be used both to compliment and substitute for each other. When the traditional system can be useful and able to provide some information, the organization should adopt new advanced system to assist the more useful information to make decision. But when the traditional system fail to provide useful information, then it should be replaced with a more advanced system. This is very crucial to the management accounting and should be careful when making decision on what MAP that suitable for the condition of the business. If not it might be jeopardize the firms’ perfor mance. References H.Thomas Johnson, Robert S. Kaplan. (1987), â€Å"Relevance Lost: The Rise and Fall of Management Accounting, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, Massachusetts. Rosmawati Mahfar, Normah Omar. (2004), â€Å"The current state of Management Accounting practice in selected Malaysian Companies: An empirical evidence†, Universiti Tenaga Nasional, International Business Management Conference 2004. Mahmoud Ezzamel, Keith Hoskin and Richard Macve. (1990), Managing It All By numbers: A review of Johnson & Kaplan’s ‘Relevance Lost’†, Accounting and Business Research, Vol. 20, No. 78, pp. 153-166, 1990. Maliah Sulaiman, Nik Nazli Nik Ahmad and Norhayati Alwi. 2004), â€Å"Management Accounting Practices in selected Asian countries: A review of the literature†, International Islamic University Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur. Tuan Zainun Tuanmat, Malom Smith. (2011), â€Å"Changes in management accounting practices in Malaysia†, Asi an Review of Accounting, Vol. 19 Iss: 3 ppp. 221 – 242. Nitza Geri, Boaz Ronen. (2005), â€Å"Relevance lost: the rise and fall of activity- based costing†, Human System Management 24 (2005) 133-144 IOS Press. Martijin van der Steen. (2011), â€Å"The emergence and change of management accounting routines†, Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal Vol. 24 No. 4, 2011 pp. 502-547.

Critical Infrastructure Protection Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Critical Infrastructure Protection - Assignment Example However, what is clear is that the intelligence agencies failed to protect the country from such catastrophes. To prevent such attacks in the future and to ensure that America becomes a secure country to live in and do business, George Walker Bush, undertook a proactive move that led to the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security. The move to establish the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was informed by the need to protect the U.S. against terrorism as its main mission, according to the White House (2003). DHS has 22 different federal agencies charged with different roles aimed at ensuring that the country is safeguarded from terrorist threats. The fact that DHS had 22 different federal departments made it the third largest Federal department in the country. Operation and responsibilities of the DHS The responsibilities of the Department of Homeland Security as far as prevention and emergency response are concerned are four folds. The first major responsibility of DHS is safeguarding the United States by preventing terrorism and enhancing national security (Charvat, 2012). According to the White House (2003), safeguarding the U.S. and its citizens from terrorism was the cornerstone for its formation, following the 9/11 incident. The 9/11 incident exposed the country’s vulnerability to terrorism of whatever kind. Therefore, in response to the incident, the then president, George Walker Bush found it necessary to form an independent department responsible for safeguarding the country from terrorist threats. The DHS is also responsible for securing the U.S. borders. In fulfilling its mandate of safeguarding the country against terrorism, DHS also focuses on the prevention of unauthorized importation, acquisition, or use of nuclear, biological, and chemical materials and capabilities within the country’s borders. In addition, the DHS is responsible for safeguarding the U.S cyberspace from attack by malicious actors. Further, the DHS is charged with the responsibility of ensuring the country’s resilience to disaster (Filippini, Giannopoulos, and Schimmer 2012). Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) initiatives The U.S. critical infrastructure consists of power plants, highways, cyber networks, bridges, telecommunication, banking, water system financial institutions, emergency services and transport system, both government and private that are critical for the effective and efficient functioning of the country. These critical infrastructures have become vulnerable to attack by terrorists in the past decades. As such, the DHS has a responsibility of identifying, evaluating, and protecting these critical infrastructures from acts of terrorism, sabotage, or disasters. Therefore, the Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) initiatives are measures and techniques developed to protect the country’s critical infrastructures from terrorist attacks, sabotage, or disasters. The critical infrastructures p rotected in this case include physical assets, people, and cyber system that are important for the development of the country (Filippini, Giannopoulos, and Schimmer 2012). The DHS in conjunction with other security agencies ensures that America’s critical assets are protected from terrorism, disasters, and sabotage by ensuring the U.S. borders are safeguarded. Securing borders in this case implies the

Toyota Motor Corporation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Toyota Motor Corporation - Essay Example Capital is one of the key aspects examined here. The company profitability in 2011 has gone down and capital funding reduced. It has a large capital reserve .the first quarter has experienced a decrease of 17.2% in sales. This indicates future drops and forecast with the economic times. Debt to equity ratio is 0.69. This indicates that the company is more funded with equity than debts. Current ratio of is 1.0 in the past one year. This indicates that the company has liquidity value overall. There have not been significant changes in its shareholders equity within the first quarter. This indicates that the shareholders have not forsaken their duties in this company. Character is analyzed in terms of the willingness to repay the loan. A credit report is generated on Toyota’s borrowings, tax remittances, any court proceedings on default, past loaners, and overall honoring the debts. The length of the present debt is analyzed as well as the amount owed. Toyota is current paying a fine of $16.4 million for a recall suit. This has jeopardized the power leadership in the automobile industry. FICO scores of 300-800 are used and it is said, the higher the score the better the customer is worth. Collateral is the asset or guarantee placed that can be seized by the company in case the customer default in repayments. At Toyota, current assets and fixed assets stands at 28 387 556 yen a drop from last year’s value of 29 million yen.

Unilever and Nestle are facing political and economic challenges in Essay

Unilever and Nestle are facing political and economic challenges in middle eastern and north African countries - Essay Example Financial productivity is the main aim of every financial establishment. For the past several decades, Unilever and Nestle companies have operated on good financial bases. On average, Nestle gets 28% of its finances from European markets, 44% of the revenues from the Americas and 28% from Africa, Oceania and Asia. Likewise, Unilever makes a large portion of its profits from Europe and the United States of America (Nestle 2006, 12). There is relatively low revenue collected by both companies in the Middle East and North African countries. These parts of the world are particularly unproductive for Unilever and Nestle given the political instability in the regions. Governance of countries in the Middle East and North Africa do not encourage Foreign Direct Investment given unpredictable economic policies (Unilever 2013, 32). Given the instability of political environment in North Africa and Middle East, economic situation of the populations around the regions curtails the purchasing power of the inhabitants. A complete essay of this paper will answer the question: How do Unilever and Nestle face political and economic challenges in Middle Eastern and North African countries? It places a hypothesis that economic and political challenges in these regions have negative effects on investment of the two companies in the

The Fair Family Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

The Fair Family - Essay Example According to the discussion the central considerations are the medical, social and legal problems as a precursor to the relevant ethical considerations. As highlighted in the previous section, bioethics is inherently complex and there is no single correct approach. To this end, Kerridge et al propose the â€Å"space† paradigm in approaching ethical problems; which is essentially: â€Å"a region of turbulence where the space is defined by what is at stake – values relationships, behaviour and human flourishing† (p.6). As such, this â€Å"space† concept inherently depends on the nature of the discipline such as medical or nursing to determine the applicable ethics, which Kerridge et al suggest â€Å"means that ethics must ultimately be about discourse, communication, social relationships and politics†. Therefore ethics is rooted in social behaviour and culture as opposed to law or even clinical guidelines. From this study it is clear that in considering the model of ethical decision making in health care, Kerridge et al refer to the need to firstly state the problem within the ethical problem and other issues such as social, cultural and legal issues. If applied to the current factual scenario, in simple medical terms the problem is that failure to give Mr Fair and his daughter a blood transfusion will result in death, which clearly conflicts with the medical duty to act in the best interests of the patient. The medical problem in the current scenario is that Mr Fair has suffered serious chest injuries and a suspected lacerated/contusion of the spleen. In light of options available, the clinical team has determined that a blood transfusion is needed as a matter of emergency to save his life. Additionally, his daughter has sustained a lacerated liver, which also requires a blood transfusion to save her life.

Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 79

Marketing - Essay Example they are done with holidays and return back home, they buy coca cola whenever they feel thirsty because they recall having a good experience in the beach house. For coca cola to attract more people they organize for parties every night and occasionally they blend the nights with pop music and great performance. Moreover, a private media company televises coca cola products in their morning program during the whole of summer (Adweek, pp.98) Alternative marketing plays a big role in the life of business if applied properly and at the right time. Firms can get advantage if they use alternative method when they make a commercial a trend, not essentially from their product. For instance Budweiser commercial players are taken to be great stars like a professional actor and athlete, as they established an image, a tendency that transformed into a culture. For a conclusion on this commercial, all of the people available shouted â€Å"what’s up† and in everyday life people do the same. Alternative advertising is the best for

Activity Based Costing (ABC) Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Activity Based Costing (ABC) - Assignment Example Historically, ABC started to become popular as an alternative approach to traditional cost accounting about three decades ago, where the latter has become increasingly proving its irrelevance (Emblemsvag, 2010). The increasing automation of production as compared to being labor-intensive, the multiple product lines compared to small number of products being produced, and the increasing overhead cost of companies are factors which are said to have contributed to the popularity of ABC (Emblemsvag, 2010). ABC is said to have addressed some important issues which traditional cost accounting may have left hanging when it comes to question of reason or logic in cost allocation. Comparing the two methods of allocating cost, Emblemsvag (2010) highlighted three salient points of ABC: 1. ABC assumes cost objects consume activities whereas traditional cost accounting assumes cost objects consume resources, 2. ABC uses drivers at various levels (hence consumption, and therefore cost varies at all levels), while traditional cost accounting usually employs volume related allocation as bases for costs, and 3. ABC is process oriented, while traditional cost accounting is process oriented. Higher productivity as a desired goal or objective, therefore, is better achieved using activity based costing than traditional cost accounting. ... Such opportunities may not be readily available in a traditional cost accounting system, making ABC the wiser choice for productivity managers. Therefore, ABC is a tool that has proven to be a valuable tool for efficiency and productivity performance, and probably an indispensable method of cost allocation and cost accounting for modern organisations. Many more typical benefits of ABC have been cited (Value Based Management, 2011), and among them are: Ability to identify the most and least profitable customers, products, and channels, Ability to easily identify the root causes of poor financial performance, Ability to track costs of activities and work processes, Equip managers with cost intelligence to better drive improvements, Meet important marketing objectives, such as determination of a better marketing mix, enhancement of bargaining power with customers, and achieve better positioning of products in the market From the above premises it can be gleaned that ABC offers the bette r solution for any problem arising from overhead cost allocation. Definitely, ABC is an improvement of what traditional cost accounting aims to address, i.e., allocation of cost to where it matters most, keep costs down, and contribute to rising profit levels for the company through increased efficiency and productivity. But is ABC really perfect? Has it become the eureka of overhead allocation, where a lasting solution has been found to last a lifetime? Is there a downside, a lowlight, anything that ABC would not be able to achieve? Is it the perfect cure? There are some weaknesses when ABC is implemented by organisations. But such weaknesses or limitations are far

Competeing internationally Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Competeing internationally - Essay Example On the other hand, the global strategy is also applied by the company. The approach entails a centralized decision-making process, the sale of standardized products and the differentiation of products. The centralization of value chain areas in the strategy helps the company to enjoy economies of scale as only a few value chain areas are used by the enterprise. Moreover, the method entails the development of reliable logistics to ensure that the supply chain meets the needs of the consumers before the competitors can get to them. The multi-domestic strategy is another approach that is rapidly used by the company (Hill & Jones, 2014). The approach entails the decentralization of decision-making in the particular country of operation once the products have been supplied. The decentralization enables the company to respond to issues that the clients may raise about the product. It is such responses and interaction with the customers that has allowed Apple to gain an edge over its compet itors by building a strong customer base in sales and delivery and customer service (Halikias & Salavou, 2014). The most suitable method among the ones chosen by the company is the multi-domestic strategy. The strategy enables the company to handle the issues that come from the specific market of location and thus is better off compared to any of the other strategies. Also, the strategy helps the company to be in constant contact with the target market; hence it is easy to respond to issues that may arise. It is also possible to modify the products to meet the needs of the specific target market depending on their needs (Halikias & Salavou,

Individual Perspective Paper Essay Example for Free

Individual Perspective Paper Essay Today modern psychology consists of many ideas of science and psychology of the past. Several psychologists have come together to share their perspectives and related ideas for the advancement of psychology. One major influence in early psychology is behaviorism and John B. Watson, B.F. Skinner, and Edward C. Tolman are considered contributors to behaviorisms. These are distinguished psychologists who have different perspectives on conditioning and behaviorism and how their different practices can be used to treat patients dealing with different issues. This paper will elaborate on their perspectives and contributions and show comparison and contrast in psychology today. Over the years American psychology prepared the way for behaviorism to become the dominant force in the discipline. This is a result of three psychologists Edward Tolman, Clark Hull, and B.F. Skinner who followed in the footsteps of Watson. Psychology’s history frequently refers to Watsonian behaviorism that revolutionized in 1913 and was called â€Å"Behaviorist Manifesto†. John Watson was born 1878 and attained a Master’s degree when he was 21. Watson studied philosophy and sought out his own theories about behavior that he referred to as, â€Å"behaviorism†. Watson discovered the school of behaviorism in psychology and was also the founder. Behaviorism is learning perspective of psychology that is idea that all things are organism to included feelings, acting, thinking, and are rewards of behaviors. His theory that is known as classical behaviorism is considered classical conditioning. His belief is, people do not experience emotions; however, they are more responding stimuli. Watson’s idea for classical behaviorism was to produce more objective science (Goodwin, 2008). John Watson became more famous for his little Albert experiment. Little Albert was a child whose parents worked in the laboratory, and his parents had to bring him to work with them every day. Albert while at the lab played with the rat to keep busy. Watson noticed Albert’s behavior with the rat and considered it stimuli. He continued to have Albert play with the rat; however, Watson decided to conduct an experiment that he would hit a hammer this would signify that it was time to play. He conducted about seven presentations with the rat. He created a loud sound that scared Albert, and he started to develop a new response that was fear. The fear that Albert showed became more visible when he was present with other thinks that reminded him of the rat. These thinks could be dogs, furs, men with beard, and anything furry (Watson Rayne, 1920) The next psychologist to come along was B.F. Skinner who was born in 1904. Skinner attended Hamilton College in New York. Skinner was more into English Literature and had hopes of becoming a future writer, however he was unsuccessful. Skinner attended Howard University as a psychology student, after reading â€Å"An Outline of Philosophy† which spoke of John Watson. B.F. Skinner invented what known as the operant condition chamber and cumulative recorder. It developed the rate of response which became a dependent variable in psychological research. With this research Skinner was able to develop a more powerful, inductive, data driven method of experimental research. After these accomplishments he received his Ph.D. in psychology. B.F. Skinner discovered his very own perspective known as radical behaviorism. Skinner’s theory indicated behavior is a result of what was happening in the environment. The behavior would exhibit cause and effect, whether positive or negative. It determined the probability of the reproduction of the behavior. Skinner’s focused on heavy attention regarding schedule of reinforcement. Reinforcement indicated that the more attention given to the behavior, the reward is more likely to change. Once the behavior reoccurred the absence of the reward would decrease the likelihood of it would repeating itself. This type of conditioning is referred to as operant conditioning. It can be said that both Skinner and Watson’s had very similar outlook on behavior; however, they had one major difference. Watson argued against using reference in mental state and that psychology should be a study directly related to the behavior. Skinner rejected and stuck to his beliefs that everything was related to behavior (Goodwin, 2008). The next psychologist is Edward C. Tolman who had his own perspective on behavior which he referred to a purposive behaviorism. Tolman was born in 1886 and attained his Ph.D. at Howard University. Tolman believed that behaviorist methodology was not radical behaviorist like that of his counterpart Skinner. He also believed that learning will occur without reinforcement. He believed that the information that is learned would be used in different environments. The behavior was not only just automatic responses to the stimuli. Despite Tolman’s view with the behaviorist, his view of the subject became known for the cognitive theory of learning. His thoughts were that learning was developed by knowledge and cognition of the environment and its relation. Tolman’s also conducted experiment using lab rats; however, Tolman studied rats running in a maze without any reward and determine his own analysis. Thus he presented his theory that revealed learning could occur with the absence of a reward, and also humans learn without awareness. One the information is available or needed is when the person becomes aware of what has to be learned. His belief is that there are drives that motivate behavior and only when there is a shift in the motives then there will be a disturbance in the behavior. The comparison between Watson, Skinner and Tolman is that the all were psychologist and behaviorist. Their idea and belief is that behavior is the main reason a person function the way they do and the details differ. Watson believed that there is a connection between how people respond to the environment. If a person has difficulty with certain behaviors, psychologist ties to reverse the behavior modification in hopes of desensitizing the fears that would change the behavior. Skinner’s theory is different from that of Watson’s and indicated that behaviors are a result of consequences. He did not believe the idea of inner cause for a behavior, but the reappearance was based on the consequences received once the behavior is present. Skinner perspective is that reinforcement can help to reduce progression of a behavior. It there is a reward every time for the behavior it would eventually decrease. Tolman’s theory regarding behavior is that learning can occur even if there is an absence related to the reward without even knowing that learning occurred. Tolman’s greatest discovery was related to cognitive map. While researching behavior he noticed that thought processes occurred in his subjects. His cognition map is uses among other professions in modern psychology and he is known has the father of cognitive theory. In conclusion, John B. Watson, B.F. Skinner, and Edward C. Tolman are considered behaviorist of some type. The have strong beliefs in there underline behavior and found reason to support their theory. They are all considered the forefathers in psychology and their perspectives are contributions to the way behavior is seen today. Reference Goodwin, C. (2008). A History of Modern Psychology (3rd ed.). Retrieved from The University of Phoenix eBook Collection database. Watson, J., Rayner, R. (1920). Conditioned Emotional Reactions. Retrieved from http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Watson/emotion.htm

Is China Facing a Financial Crisis?

Is China Facing a Financial Crisis? In a first for Chinese Banks and its Big Four, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) unseated Exxon Mobil last year to take the top spot on the Forbes Global 2000[i] as the world’s largest company. China Construction Bank moved up 11 spots to No. 2 on the list.  Agricultural Bank of China stood at No. 8 and Bank of China with its double digit growth in sales and profits; improved its ranking by 10 places to No. 11[ii]. However what is more interesting is that ICBC, world’s largest and most profitable bank itself was on the verge of defaulting until a last minute decision to bail it out earlier in January this year. A 3 Billion Yuan (around $500 million) product issued by China Credit Trust Co., a shadow bank and marketed through ICBC was underpinned by a loan to a mining operation of Shanxi Zhenfu Energy Group that later collapsed as the price of coal plummeted. Investors were promised a hefty 10% annual return over three years, but were told in January n ot to expect payment. Some of the investors, who reportedly put as much as $500,000 each into the fund, said ICBC should reimburse them since it had marketed the product. ICBC insisted that it had never guaranteed the product, and had no legal responsibility to pay investors. The banks chairman even went so far as to describe the episode as a learning opportunity for investors, shadow banks and ICBC. However the learning opportunity was missed, thanks to a bailout by an unnamed third party that ensured investors will recover their initial investment, though interest will not be paid[iii]. Shadow Banking in China comprises of a web of non-banks that includes pawn shops, underground banks, various wealth management products, trust companies, and guarantors – many of which don’t take deposits to insure against risky lending activities and operate completely beyond the eye of regulators and authorities.These firms offer loans to companies or individuals that may have trouble securing traditional bank financing. Often, the loans are then packaged and sold to investors looking for higher returns. In China, the sectors exact reach is unknown, but some estimates put its size at roughly 60% of Chinas GDP[iv]. The China Banking Regulating Commission (CBRC) caps the value of loans that banks can extend relative to the value of deposits at 75%. Because of this cap, banks prefer to issue off-balance sheet loans in order to maintain lower loan-to-deposit ratios (LDRs).While the latest estimates for lending from China’s biggest banks put February 14’s new loans at 800 Billion Yuan, the highest February figure since the 4 Trillion Yuan stimulus in 2009, reports are emerging that the strength in new loans is not driven by real demand, but rather by banks moving off-balance sheet loans on to the balance sheet as part of the government’s broader crackdown on shadow banking[v]. It is one of the many indicators that signify the slowdown of Chinese economy. In 2012, there were two trust defaults, one for a product distributed by Huaxia BankLtd. and one sold by CITIC Trust. While it was learned thatZhongfa Industrial Groupin the end guaranteed the first, the solution to the second was never made public[vi]. Beijing knows that a default could prompt investors to pull theirmoneyfrom other trust products and stop providing the deposits needed to supply credit and fuel economic growth. A default would likely lead to a loss of confidence in Chinas trust and other shadow credit markets and a shrinkage of liquidity in those markets, and hence, a credit crunch. Some analysts however argue that a default is needed to demonstrate Beijings commitment to allow market forces to play a larger role in the economy, and to send a message to investors that high-yield investments carry significant risk. The China Banking Regulatory Commission said non-performing loans (NPLs) made by Chinese lenders reached 592 Billion Yuan in the final three months of last year. The last NPLs were at the same level was September 2008, the month when US investment bank Lehman Brothers collapsed. Loans by Chinese lenders have grown at an unprecedented rate in the past five years, with banks increasing the size of their balance sheets by 89 Trillion Yuan, an amount roughly equivalent to the size of the entire US banking industry[vii]. Chinese non-financial companies held total outstanding bank borrowing and bond debt of about $12 trillion at the end of last year equal to over 120 percent of GDP according to Standard Poors estimates[viii]. Trust companies along with other non-bank financial institutions such as securities brokerages have become a vital source of credit, allowing banks to arrange off-balance-sheet refinancing for maturing loans that risky borrowers such as the local government financing vehicles (LGFV) cannot repay from their internal cash flow. By law, China’s local governments are not allowed to borrow. After the 2008 global financial crisis, Beijing conceded some relaxations and local governments created LGFV (Local Government Financing Vehicles), also known as UDICs (Urban Development and Investment Companies), which though separate from but owned or controlled by the local government, were permitted to borrow. The LGFV generally borrowed funds predominantly from banks (as much as 80% or more), with the remainder raised by issuing bonds or equity-like instruments to insurance companies, institutional investors and individuals. Recently, with pressure on banks to curtail loans, these financing vehicles have borrowed from China’s shadow banking system. Audits released for the first time show that Chinas wealthiest eastern provinces are the most indebted, though repayment burdens are more onerous in poorer areas such as the southwestern provinces. Tibet was the only region that did not release an audit report[ix]. According to statistics from the National Audit Office, as of June 2013 government debt at all levels totaled about 20.7 Trillion Yuan (US$3.4 trillion), of which domestic government debt accounted for around 10.9 Trillion Yuan (US$1.8 trillion). Of this amount, 2.39 Trillion Yuan (US$390 billion), or 22%, is due in spring of this year[x]. We can add that including the local government debt that matures this year, there is an estimated 5 Trillion Yuan of trust products that are maturing, including as much as 1 Trillion Yuan in May[xi]. If the China Credit Trust product was allowed to default, China’s financial system might have been sitting on hundreds of billions, if not trillions of Yuan worth of non-performing loans in just a few months time. Chinacan rarely allow corporate failures, particularly of state-backed companies, partly out of fear that widespread layoffs could lead to social unrest. All this makes things all the tougher for the People’s Bank of China espec ially when interbank rates are at an all time high to control the local debt. Further the rising Chinese Yuan, which has gained around 33% since 2005 against the U.S. currency, increases their returns has led to asurge in loans to Chinese companies from outside the country has contributed to big inflows of cash into the mainland (mainly short-term and speculative in nature), trying to profit from the mainlands relatively highinterest rates[xii]. Hence when the more the PBOC pumps into the system, the more it encourages risky lending, pushing the country closer to a debt crisis. But when the central bank has declined to add cash to the system—notably in June  and  December of 2013—liquidity has seized up. The scale of trust assets however still pales in comparison to total banking sector assets of more than 100 TrillionYuanas of the end of June. But without trusts, the banking systems non-performing loans (NPL) ratio might be much higher, although accurate estimates are not possible[xiii]. China bears argue that a vast majority of the trust loans cannot be repaid, which will eventually require substantial bailouts and lead to a collapse in the banking system and a larger economic crisis. Even if this is exaggerated and the assets are good, huge liquidity risks exist given the known mismatch between the duration of trust loans and their underlying investments. [i] The Forbes Global 2000 are public companies with the top composite scores based on their rankings for sales, profits, assets and market value. [ii] Forbes: The World’s Biggest Companies at http://www.forbes.com/sites/scottdecarlo/2013/04/17/the-worlds-biggest-companies-2/ [iii] Charles Riley, â€Å"Chinas $500 million shadow bank rescue†, January 28, 2014 at http://money.cnn.com/2014/01/28/investing/china-icbc-default/ [iv] ibid [v] Oliver Barron, â€Å"Latest Developments for Chinas Shadow Banking and its Implications for RMB†, February 26, 2014 at http://www.forbes.com/sites/oliverbarron/2014/02/26/latest-developments-for-chinas-shadow-banking-and-its-implications-for-rmb/ [vi] Oliver Barron, â€Å"China Trust Default Avoided†¦ What Comes Next?†, January 27, 2014 at http://www.forbes.com/sites/oliverbarron/2014/01/27/china-trust-default-avoided-what-comes-next/ [vii] Harry Wilson, â€Å"Chinese bank bad debts hit crisis level high†, February 14, 2014 at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/10638811/Chinese-bank-bad-debts-hit-crisis-level-high.html [viii] Matthew Miller and Umesh Desai, â€Å"Chinas $12 trillion corporate debt pushes up refunding costs, drives mergers†, February 25, 2014 at http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/26/us-china-debt-companies-idUSBREA1P06420140226 [ix] â€Å"China details $3-trillion local public debt risk†, January 27, 2014 at http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/27/us-china-economy-debt-idUSBREA0Q0LA20140127 [x] â€Å"RMB350bn in local government debt up for repayment†, February 27, 2014 at http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?id=20140227000050cid=1202 [xi] Oliver Barron, â€Å"China Trust Default Avoided†¦ What Comes Next?†, January 27, 2014 at http://www.forbes.com/sites/oliverbarron/2014/01/27/china-trust-default-avoided-what-comes-next/ [xii] Enda Curran and Prudence Ho, â€Å"Concern Over Hong Kong Banks Growing Lending into China†, February 27, 2014 at http://www.marketwatch.com/story/concern-over-hong-kong-lending-to-china-2014-02-27-124492221 [xiii] Gabriel Wildau and Lu Jianxin, â€Å"Growth in China trust assets slows as shadow banking crackdown bites†, August 6, 2013 at http://in.reuters.com/article/2013/08/06/us-china-economy-trust-idUSBRE97504Q20130806

Increasing Literacy in Children Kindergarten through Sixth Grade with A

Illiteracy has been a reoccurring predicament ever since people have been able to read. Either children do not understand how to read and write in school, or they require extra help in becoming skilled in the areas of reading and writing. After school programs were created to help schools increase the literacy development in children. An after school program is defined as a program that offers its services to children after school to help them with arts, crafts, sports, or homework. Are after school programs fulfilling their duty to increase the level of literacy in children? After school programs are increasing the level of literacy in children kindergarten through sixth grade because they were created to help children increase their literacy level since schools are not providing children kindergarten through sixth grade with help in increasing their literacy level. The common definition of illiteracy is the inability to read and write. The Funk and Wagnalls Dictionary defines illiteracy as the â€Å"inability to read and write, an error in speaking or writing.† Even if there is a fault in the speaking or writing of a child, that child is defined as illiterate. If that is the definition of illiteracy, is the definition of a literate child one who never makes a mistake in his or her reading and writing? A child will always make mistakes in reading and writing because the child is human, but if that child never progresses in his or her ability to read and write then the child is defined as illiterate. Funk and Wagnalls Dictionary defines literacy as â€Å"the state of being literate† and a literate individual as one that is â€Å"able to read and write, educated, cultured.† Literacy is also indicated by comprehension and a progres... ...b. 2005 . â€Å"Illiteracy.† Funk & Wagnalls Standard Desk Dictionary. 6th ed. 1983. â€Å"Literacy.† Funk & Wagnalls Standard Desk Dictionary. 6th ed. 1983. â€Å"Literate.† Funk & Wagnalls Standard Desk Dictionary. 6th ed. 1983. Prosser, Theresa M., and Levesque, Jeri A. â€Å"Supporting Literacy Through Service Learning.† Reading Teacher Sep. 1997: 31 par. Academic Search Premier. EBSCOhost. University of Denver Penrose Library, Denver. 19 Jan. 2005 . Sylva, Kathy, and Evans, Emma. â€Å"Preventing Failure at School.† Children and Society 13 Sep. 1999: 9p. Academic Search Premier. EBSCOhost. University of Denver Penrose Library, Denver. 19 Jan. 2005 .

The Political Status of Tibet and China :: Foreign Policy Politics Political

In contemporary society, before major decisions are made, we are often urged to look back at the pertinent historical information and see if we can use this information to help us make clearer decisions and definitions especially in national and international policies. The real problem with this is that those making decisions often have a personal investment in the decision and are able to skew history and data towards the solution that they prefer. In these cases, it is necessary to look at both sides of the information before reaching a decision, and this is what I have tried to do concerning China’s policies and political viewpoint of Tibet. Through using objective and pro-Chinese documents, as well as outside knowledge of pro-Tibet viewpoints, I have attempted to prove whether or not I feel the Chinese are justified in claiming authority over Tibet, and conversely, whether Tibet is justified in claiming autonomy from China. My conclusion is that neither is justified. Through studying the political histories of the relationship of China and Tibet since the Tang Dynasty, constructed as alternating periods of each state’s dominance over each other in different ways, I believe that neither China nor Tibet is justified in their political opinions over the other and instead they historically have been partners unable to clearly be separate from each other. In order to properly come to a conclusion on what the actual historical status of Tibet and China is, one must begin with the first real documented political relationship existing between the two states. This period begins with the Tang Dynasty ruling in China (approximately 618 to 908 AD) and a series of powerful tribal chiefs in Tibet, referred to as the â€Å"‘Tubo’ in Chinese historical documents† (Yin 201). During this period, the Tubo were a highly powerful group, and for almost three centuries, constant battles erupted between Tibet and China, not clearly defined with borders yet. The Tibetans were still a highly nomadic society and sparsely spread along the high Tibetan plains. As the tribal chiefs began to gain more power, larger groups of people would congregate, and battles broke out when the nomadic Tibetans would either travel into Chinese territory or when the Chinese would infringe upon the Tibetan nomads’ lands. Due to the unclearly de fined borders between China and Tibet, many â€Å"minor frontier states† existed as a buffer zone between Tibet and China (Norbu 34). The Political Status of Tibet and China :: Foreign Policy Politics Political In contemporary society, before major decisions are made, we are often urged to look back at the pertinent historical information and see if we can use this information to help us make clearer decisions and definitions especially in national and international policies. The real problem with this is that those making decisions often have a personal investment in the decision and are able to skew history and data towards the solution that they prefer. In these cases, it is necessary to look at both sides of the information before reaching a decision, and this is what I have tried to do concerning China’s policies and political viewpoint of Tibet. Through using objective and pro-Chinese documents, as well as outside knowledge of pro-Tibet viewpoints, I have attempted to prove whether or not I feel the Chinese are justified in claiming authority over Tibet, and conversely, whether Tibet is justified in claiming autonomy from China. My conclusion is that neither is justified. Through studying the political histories of the relationship of China and Tibet since the Tang Dynasty, constructed as alternating periods of each state’s dominance over each other in different ways, I believe that neither China nor Tibet is justified in their political opinions over the other and instead they historically have been partners unable to clearly be separate from each other. In order to properly come to a conclusion on what the actual historical status of Tibet and China is, one must begin with the first real documented political relationship existing between the two states. This period begins with the Tang Dynasty ruling in China (approximately 618 to 908 AD) and a series of powerful tribal chiefs in Tibet, referred to as the â€Å"‘Tubo’ in Chinese historical documents† (Yin 201). During this period, the Tubo were a highly powerful group, and for almost three centuries, constant battles erupted between Tibet and China, not clearly defined with borders yet. The Tibetans were still a highly nomadic society and sparsely spread along the high Tibetan plains. As the tribal chiefs began to gain more power, larger groups of people would congregate, and battles broke out when the nomadic Tibetans would either travel into Chinese territory or when the Chinese would infringe upon the Tibetan nomads’ lands. Due to the unclearly de fined borders between China and Tibet, many â€Å"minor frontier states† existed as a buffer zone between Tibet and China (Norbu 34).

How Stevenson Depicts the Relationship between Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

How Stevenson Depicts the Relationship between Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Robert Louis Stevenson wanted to gradually show the relationship between Jekyll and Hyde in his story. It does not state until the end of the story that they are in fact the same person, he instead leaves it for people to work out for themselves, with a brief explanation at the end of the book. For most of the story, nobody can explain their relationship, as they are never seen together. People are confused as to how they know each other and became such good friends. Clues are given throughout the story that they are the same person; not enough to guess on your own, but so that it all makes sense in the end. These clues include the fact that Hyde once goes into Jekyll's home and takes out Jekyll's chequebook to pay out of Jekyll's bank account. People found this very strange, 'a man does not, in real life, walk into a cellar door at four o'clock in the morning and come out of it with another man's cheque'. This gives the idea that they must be very close friends to share a bank account, or that Jekyll would give Hyde entry to his account. Their relationship is depicted as business-like, and as if they have known each other for a long time. The latter part of this is true in a way. The have an interesting relationship, they need each other to live. Hyde uses Jekyll as a body to carry out his evil and Jekyll uses Hyde to get rid of his burning desires and stress, I think that Robert Louis Stevenson intended to use this in a way to show that they rely on each other and because one has begun to depend on the other, they could not live without each other even though they have so much hatred towards one another. At one point their relations... ... good idea from Robert Louis Stevenson as it gives a clearer impression to the readers about Jekyll and Hyde's relationship with each other and shows their personalities and how they differ. Another interesting way the existence of Hyde can be perceived is that he is the meaning of evil, 'that child of Hell' sent to destroy lives. One character saw himself as the person to hunt down evil, though in the end he was unsuccessful, 'If he be Mr Hyde, I shall be Mr Seek', a clever play on words suggesting evil against good. Black is often linked with evil, Hyde is only used during the night time when it is dark and he has dark hair, as opposed to Jekyll only being himself in the light and having fair hair; another difference between them. His general appearance also looks evil to those who see it; Hyde's visage is described as 'Satan's signature on a face'.

Odysseus

Observing the relationship between the polytheistic gods and mortals in the time of Homer seems, in comparison, is odd to our Judeo-christian traditions found in our society. Where some may see a omnishient and powerful being as a inactive in the our everyday dealings, the Gods in Homer's time were consistently involved in either hindering or aiding those they found to their liking or disliking. In the epic poem â€Å"The Odyssey†by Homer (translated by W. H. D.Rouse) Odyseuss is constantly helped and indered throughout the story by a multitude of Gods. —–To begin, in the VII book Odysseus has been blown off course and has been shipwrecked at the island of the Phaecians due to a storm fabricated by Poseidon the God of the sea and earthquakes. Poseidon's motivation to commit such an act was Odysseus's lack of paying proper homage for the pillaging done during the Trojan War and the blinding of his cyclops son, Polythemus. One appauling point of this example is how defined and clear the motivations of Poeseidon were.Usually when an event of tragedy appens to those who are religiously inclined they often ask â€Å"Why would God do this? † and the typical answer used by religous leaders is that God works in mysterious ways that us humans cannot begin to understand. Rather than the Greek Gods residing in an entirely segreated realm from mortals they allow themselves to share in human traits and motivations . —–Contuing on Odysess's dilema on the island of the Phaecians, he is found by the Phaecian princess Nausicaa who was instructed to make her way to him via the Goddess Athena.Athena is the Goddess of wisdom and has built a mentor and savior like relationship with him. After Odysseus's part to play in the troJan war the Goddess advocated on behalf of Mount Olympus. When the Trojan war was happening Gods took sides, at times they interrupted the war and other times they let the two sides brawl it out. Since there was such a n abundance of Gods to follow in the greek polytheistic religon humans favored certain Gods to pray to and worship and in turn the Gods favored certain humans and gave special attention to.The way the gods treated their followers were as if they were using them as pawns on a great chessboard, pushing them all in different paths as if it were somesort of entertainment. Athena knew that Odysseus was a proper man and could win over the Phaecians, but she chooses to intercede his natural path and gifts him with the knowledge of their culture and turns him invisible so he may enter the castle. The Goddess could have Just as easily Just transported Odysseus into the castle properly dressed and fully groomed, but she took a less involved route.The Gods seem to favor slightly altering information available to humans or effecting relationships and Just watching how it would play out. —–Athena doesn't forcefully push Nausicaa to find Odysseus rather she Just implies it and also she supllies miniscule aid on the path to the castle. On the occasion gods appear to humans as their normal selves, but usually they work behind the curtain. The idea of the gods as tricksters who misdirects individuals for simple entertainment is so odd to compare to our modern way of thinking from a judeo-christian point of view.It doesnt seem right that such a powerful deity should nave a sense ot humor. This most likely branches otttne tact that having a sense ot humor is to human and recognizable to us. On the contrary, once we establish these gods in the same category as humans the idea becomes clearer.

Cruel and Unusual Punishment: the Death Penalty

Cruel and Unusual Punishment: The Death Penalty I remember watching the movie Dead Man Walking; it was about this man named Matthew Poncelet who allegedly raped a girl and killed a teenage boy. Poncelet pleaded not guilty, but was convicted as a murderer and put on death row. He asked for several appeals stating that Carl Vitello, the man he was with at the time, was the one that should be at fault. Poncelet seems very convincing that it wasn’t him, but at the end, the courts had enough evidence to grant Poncelet the retribution of execution.The movie has me questioning America’s justice system; what if someone was actually innocent? Is it right to kill someone as a consequence for their wrong doing? To some, it seems like the right thing to do. If someone breaks the rules you simply punish them. But how should we carry out these punishments? When eight-year-old Billy steals a candy bar from Seven Eleven, you can bet that one of the parents will deliver some whippings. In Texas, when I was in elementary school, I started a fight, and as a result I got sent to the principal’s office and received three licks with a paddle.So where do we draw the line? At a higher level, what happens to me if I kill someone? Since the beginning of time, societies in almost every culture and background have used capital punishment or physical chastisement as a consequence for the killing of others. But, we shouldn’t be doing this anymore; life is too valuable. Even though some people have made mistakes in their lives, its time for the United States to free the judicial systems from their power to take peoples life’s as a consequence for people taking the life of another. In 1972, with the Furman v.Georgia case, the Supreme Court recognized that capital punishment was indeed a roll of the dice, and as a consequence held that as practiced it violated the Cruel and Unusual Punishment clause of the Constitution's Eighth Amendment. Justice Stewart decl ared that the death penalty was cruel because it is â€Å"wantonly and freakishly imposed,† and it was like â€Å"being struck by lightning† (Hull). Justice Douglas, agreed and stated that the death penalty was unusual because â€Å"it discriminates against someone by reason of his race, wealth, social position, or class† (Hull).Justice Byron White, a man who favored more executions, agreed that he noticed, that among the hundreds of federal and state criminal cases that could have resulted in the death penalty, â€Å"only a handful of defendants were actually selected for execution† — making the system â€Å"so totally irrational as to be based on luck† (Hull). The decision removed power from the states to enforce the death penalty, and moved the 629 inmates off death row.For a few years, the death penalty remained illegal because the Justices that were on the Supreme Court at the time concluded that executions violated the Eight and Fourte en Amendments, citing cruel and unusual punishment. However, with different terms, in 1976, the Supreme Court reversed itself with Gregg v. Georgia and reinstated the death penalty to state hands. Nevertheless, this is a prime example of how the Supreme Court can change laws and set precedents by the way they interpret our Amendments.The Supreme Court is in place to dissect, and analyze the Constitution to decide what the Framers meant, and in 1972, the perspicacity of the Justices resulted in the most humane decision ever made; people where being deprived from life by serving life imprisonments instead of being executed. Since 1976, the United States has executed 1,295 people, and there are currently 3,189 people on death row (DPIC). But all murderers haven’t had the same fortune, because of Gregg v. Georgia, some states enforce the death penalty and others don’t. There are currently 33 states in the U. S. ho currently support and implement capital punishment, and 17 states who oppose. (DPIC). Murderers in non-capital punishment states can kill with the highest punishment being life in prison; but if that same murderer resided in another state, he would have the opportunity, depending on the case, to be sentenced to execution, via lethal injection. The problem here lies, that there is no consistency when it come to punishing the murderers. If a murderer lives in the U. S. the reprimands should remain the same for everyone; the penalties shouldn’t differ because what climate a killer prefers living in.The laws that we have in place now, means that if I wanted to go on a killing spree, and I didn’t want to die because of it, I would simply move from a death penalty state to a free death penalty state and make my moves there. It’s not right to pick and choose something of this magnitude. Everyone in this nation should be treated equally when it comes to a life or death situation. In 2007 at the State Bar of Wisconsin Annual Con vention in Milwaukee, pro- and anti-death penalty activists gathered to debate over the death penalty. During this debate, James P. McKay Jr. an assistant state's attorney with the Cook County State's Attorney's Office in Chicago, and a pro-death penalty supporter, stated in defense that he â€Å"absolutely believes that the death penalty brings justice to a murder victim's family† (Pribek), and that he has â€Å"never called for the death penalty in a case for political purposes† (Pribek). Professor John C. McAdams, a political science professor of Marquette University in Milwaukee, and an anti-death penalty supporter, fired back with, â€Å"The state should not implement the death penalty because of its irrevocability.Whether the state is literally taking a prisoner's life, versus locking him or her up for life, the state has taken that person's life by vanquishing his or her freedom† (Pribek). Moments after, McAdams closed out the debate with the crowd on his side, stating, â€Å"If I were on the Supreme Court, I'd say that the death penalty is cruel and unusual punishment† (Pribek). Although some death penalty advocates consider themselves the voice of the innocent victims and their families, McAdams made a very notable point.Penitentiaries don’t have to eradicate the murderer to serve justice. But you can end a life; sentence the murderer to serve permanent incarceration, and you will deprive them from freedom, or in other words, life; which in return satisfies the amendments. Yet, â€Å"we the people†, continue to put the power of life or death into the hands of fallible, sometimes prejudiced, narrow-minded people and ask them to play God and determine who’s worthy to live a life that we did not bestow upon them.Sentencing someone to life is the most reasonable solution in more ways then one. There have been 140 exonerations since 1972, and from 2000 to 2007 there has been an average of 5 exonerations per year — innocent people suffering for no reason (Woodford). The average time between the sentencing to death of the once sought guilty, to their proven innocence, is 10 years. If U. S. citizens could find it in their hearts to come together and drop down to the humanitarian level, there could be change in the system with awareness, and spread of word.There has to be other people who share the same feelings, and cringe at the thought of possible government killings toward non-guilty — it’s unsupportable. Its mind boggling to note that there has been 140 non-guilty offenders put in prison with the presumption that they are going to die, and then some years later, they are freed. The probable innocent killing can easily be solved by sentencing presumable murderers to life without parole. The death penalty is much more expensive than life without parole because the Constitution requires a long and complex judicial process for capital cases.If the death penalty was re placed with life without parole, an immense amount of money would be saved. According to a California Commission report in 2008, California could save $1 billion over five years by replacing the death penalty with permanent imprisonment (Woodford). The report stated — with reforms to ensure a fair trail to the current system in place, the death penalty would cost California an estimate of $232 million a year and the cost for a system that imposed lifetime incarnation instead of the death penalty would only cost $11. 5 million a year (Woodford). Two birds with one stone.The evidence for capital punishment as an uniquely effective deterrent to murder is especially important, since deterrence is the only major pragmatic argument on the pro-death penalty side. The theory is, if murderers are sentenced to death and executed, potential murderers will think twice before killing for fear of losing their own life; what is feared most, deters most. In 1973, Isaac Ehrlich, statistician who, after looking at national homicide rates between 1930 and 1970, established an analysis which produced results showing that for every inmate who was executed, 7 lives were spared because others were deterred from committing murder.But this however, has been proven inconclusive, and results cannot be duplicated by other researchers. Then in 1997, George Pataki, the Governor of New York state at the time, stated during the anniversary of reinstating death penalty, â€Å"To fight and deter crime effectively, individuals must have every tool government can afford them, including the death penalty† (Paraki). The governor made strong relations with the death penalty and the potential of installing fear in other potential murders.Pataki continued with strong regards to the deterrence theory after mentioning that the death penalty was a key contributor to the recent dramatic drop in violent crimes — â€Å"In New York, the death penalty has turned the tables on fear and p ut it back where it belongs-in the hearts of criminals. I know, as do most New Yorkers, that by restoring the death penalty, we have saved lives† (Pataki). I do not feel that execution best punishes criminals for their acts.Instead, in my opinion, the administration of the death penalty should end because it does not deter crime, it risks the death of an innocent person, it costs millions of dollars, it inflicts unreasonable pain, and most importantly it violates moral principles. The inconsistency doesn’t make sense either, according to Nearly everyone that has been summoned to death row, is spurred from to According to our Bill of Rights, I cannot be deprived of life without due process of law (US Const. , amend. V). So if the process of law is carried out, the courts can decide to kill me if my crime is severe enough to correspond with capital punishment.But, according to the eighth amendment, I’m protected from cruel and unusual punishment ? isn’t kill ing someone cruel and unusual? Did our Framers mean that the death penalty has to be humane, or did they mean the person has to be imprisoned for life? Is it right for someone you have never met to define these so called â€Å"rights† and never be consistent with their definitions? So here we are with a lot of questions and no right answers! Yes, Poncelet did commit a crime and he should pay; but how can someone that didn’t put you in this world, take you out?The death penalty is cruel and unusual. Why can’t the court system just sentence someone to life in prison? I believe if you take the life of another, it is a form of cruel punishment. In my eyes, it could be a violation of the eighth amendment. Our fifth amendment states, that with the processes of due law, they can deprive us of life. But how can someone construe that as killing us and taking our life? The judicial courts should have interpreted this as putting someone in prison until they die. If youâ₠¬â„¢re imprisoned for the rest of your life, then you have been deprived of life.This should be enough justice. It’s not like someone will be enjoying their time. I don’t see how the people that operate the death penalties can sleep at night; killing someone because they killed just isn’t right. They should actually make a certain prison for those who have been deprived of life, the ones who have killed. The prison should have the inmates locked up in a small dark room for 24 hours a day with no contact with anyone, no bed, no blanket, just a toilet and pictures of the victims engraved into the walls of their cell.At least this way, the killer could regret what he/she did and maybe feel some sort of remorse. It would drive the person insane. It’s also messed up for the court system to appoint a state lawyer to defend you and call that a fair trail. No lawyer really cares if you win or lose the case all they care about is the money. If one is well off when it comes to money, then of course one can afford a nice experienced lawyer that would probably bust his ass and do anything to win the case, for the reason that he would probably get more money. But if you can’t afford a lawyer, they will be happy to appoint you one.He is probably making salary and his pay isn’t justified if you win or not. If your pay doesn’t fluctuate, then there is no drive; he’s not going to work as hard and not give the case as much thought. When it’s all said and done, the appointed lawyer has nothing to lose. Maybe it’s just your luck and he is a newbie and doesn’t have any business in a case involving a murder. If they want to make it a fair trail, why can’t they pay for a top notch individual lawyer who excels in that position? We should be able to pick our own, so then at least the poor person can have a chance.I mean when you’re talking about someone’s life you don’t want any Jo e Blow defending your case. Here is a statistic for you; according to American Civil Liberties Union â€Å"Approximately 90 percent of those on death row could not afford to hire a lawyer when they were tried† (Tabak). Is it okay that only some states have the death penalty? I don’t think so. If I live in Washington State and go to Alaska to kill a man, under Alaska law I will not receive capital punishment (DPIC); the worst I would get is life in prison. But if I would have stayed and did my killings in Washington, I would be put on death row (DPIC).If the United States isn’t consistent with who dies and who doesn’t, then obviously there’s something wrong. It just doesn’t seem right to pick and choose something of this magnitude. Everyone in this nation should be treated equally when it comes to a life or death situation. Here’s yet another problem that I have found: weren’t we all suppose to have unalienable rights– ri ghts that can never be taken away from us; the right to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness? But wait; in some states they can take away our life if the crime seems bad enough.I’m no law expert, but this doesn’t seem to mesh together either. I thought the government could only suppress these rights by dictators and tyrants under oppressive regimes. The most controversial subject when talking about capital punishment is that the executioners are actually committing a crime that should put them on death row too. It’s probably the most obvious debate, but seriously, how can the same group of people who just told you that killing is illegal, turn around and kill people? That doesn’t sound fair, does it? Shouldn’t the law be equal for everyone?If murdering is illegal, then how in the hell are these people getting away with this? There’s no reason why they should get exempt from this law. They are just as bad as the criminal who committed crim e. There’s another example of how inconsistent this â€Å"act of justice† (Volpe) is being used. Two wrongs don’t make a right I don’t care how fucked up the situation may be. This law simply contradicts itself. I know I stated that it was hard to choose a side, but while writing this paper, I am confident that I oppose the whole capital punishment bullshit.Yeah, I get where people are coming from, but the reasons to not believe in the death penalty overweigh the reasons to believe in the death penalty. The only way to solve this disagreement is to actually go in and define the wording in the fifth and eighth amendments. The Framers left the Constitution open, leaving the interpretations flexible to the generations of justice to come. Once our judicial government can come to an agreement on the wording in the Constitution, then maybe we can decide if we want to continue killing people by stooping down to the criminal level.Kartha, Deepa. â€Å"10 Pros an d Cons of Capital Punishment. † Buzzle Web Portal: Intelligent Life on the Web. 5 Dec. 2009. Web. 25 Oct. 2010. . Tabak. â€Å"Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review. † American Civil Liberties Union. 1984. Web. 25 Oct. 2010. . http://www. jmu. edu/evision/archive/volume2/Volpe. pdf Works Cited DPIC. â€Å"Introduction to the Death Penalty. † Death Penalty Information Center. 2012. Web. 1 June 2012. Hull, Elizabeth. â€Å"Guilty On All Counts. † Social Policy 39. 4 (2010): 11-25. Academic Search Complete. Print.Pataki, George E. â€Å"Death Penalty Is a Deterrent. † Ed. John Hillkirk. USA Today [McLean] 1 Mar. 1997. Print. Pribek, Jane. â€Å"Pro- And Anti-Death Penalty Advocates Square Off At State Bar Of Wisconsin Annual Convention. † Wisconsin Law Journal (Milwaukee, WI) (n. d. ): Regional Business News. Print. Volpe, Tara. â€Å"Capital Punishment: Does Death Equal Justice? † Jmu. edu. 2002. E-vision. Web. 10 June 2012. Woodford, Jeanne. â€Å"10 Reasons to Oppose the Death Penalty. † Death Penalty. Death Penalty Focus, 2012. Web. 11 June 2012.

VO2 Max and Aerobic Power

Oxygen is one of the vital elements of life because it acts as a fuel for aerobic respiration, which is the energy source in all organisms (the other fuel being glucose). Without energy from respiration, organisms simply die. As an organism (in this case me, a human) does work, it needs more energy. Thus it will need more fuel and particularly more oxygen since glucose can be stored in the body. The oxygen intake increases as the rate of work done increases, up to a limit known as your VO2 max. VO2 max is the maximum volume of oxygen uptake (hence the V in VO2) anyone can use. It is measured in millilitres per minute per kilogram of body mass (mlO2 min-1 kg-1). People who are more fit have higher VO2 max values and can exercise more intensely than those who are not very fit. Factors Affecting VO2 Max The physical limitations that restrict the rate at which energy can be released aerobically are dependent upon: > The chemical ability of the muscular cellular tissue system to use oxygen in breaking down fuels and, > The combined ability of cardiovascular and pulmonary systems to transport the oxygen to the muscular tissue system.1 The Aim VO2 max can be measured in a variety of ways1. The aim of this experiment is to find out the subjects VO2 max and then covert it to the total aerobic power output. The Method VO2 max can be measured fairly accurately by doing a â€Å"shuttle run† style test (known as â€Å"The Multistage Fitness Test† A.K.A. â€Å"The Beep Test†). Basically, someone has to run a 20 meter track at the starting speed of 8.5 kmh-1 for one minute. Once the person finishes the 20 meter track, they must run back at the same speed, and thus we get an oscillating pattern from one end of the track to the other until the minute is over. The speed is increased by 1 kmh-1 every minute (so after one minute of running at 8.5 kmh-1, the person must run the second minute at 9.5 kmh-1). The same pattern is repeated only this time, because the person (the subject) is running at a higher speed during the same amount of time (one minute), they are going to cover a larger distance and therefore more of the 20 meter laps (in theory anyway). This fact only works in theory because will most of the speeds, the subject can not run a set (integer) number of laps in exactly one minute. It turns out that if the subject runs at 8.5 kmh-1 for one minute, they will cover 7.08 laps. This is impractical (how can you tell that the subject ran 7.08 laps!) and so the number of laps must be rounded up or rounded down to an integer number of laps. Once a set number of integer laps are set, we work out the time taken to run the integer number of laps. (Refer to Columns [5] and [6]). The subject continues running until he or she can no longer keep up the pace. The speed that the subject sustains (i.e. the speed before the speed that the subject stops on) is known as the Maximum Aerobic Speed (MAS) and is measured in kmh-1. Once we have the MAS, we can work out the VO2 max in the following formula: VO2 max = 31 + 3.2 x (MAS – Subject's Age [years]) + 0.15 x MAS x Age The unit for VO2 max is: mlO2 min-1 kg-1. (Note: The above formula is a â€Å"conversion formula developed by researchers, to give an accurate measure of VO2 max†. See Activity Sheet 26) After calculating the VO2 max, we can convert it to maximum aerobic power output. Because the subject will be working with a high energy output, running requires a lot of energy; the only way to keep going is by aerobic respiration. Anaerobic respiration doesn't provide the high amounts of energy that are needed in such exercises, especially for longer periods of time e.g. ten minutes. For every litre of oxygen consumed, the subject's muscles use 20kJ of energy. The total amount of oxygen consumed in a minute is the VO2 max multiplied by the body mass of the subject. This gives us the total oxygen intake of the subject in ml per minute (mlO2 min-1), since VO2 max is millilitres of oxygen per kilogram of body mass per minute. Once we have the total oxygen intake in mlO2 min-1, we multiply it by 20 (if 1 litre gives 20,000 J, then 1 millilitre will give 20 J) to get the total amount of energy used (i.e. power) in Joules per minute, (J min-1). Power (J min-1) = VO2 max (mlO2 min-1 kg-1) x Body Mass (kg) x 20 J mlO2-1 Power (W, Js-1) = Power (J min-1) à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ 60 s min-1 Conventionally, the power output is measured in Watts per kilogram of body mass, W kg-1 (See Table 3 on Pg 37 of the text book, Salters Horners Advanced Physics), therefore we would need to divide the total power by the subject's mass. However the aim of the experiment is to find out the total aerobic power output. (At least that is what the Activity Sheet 26 says, under the last bullet point in the Analysis section) This means that there is no need to divide the total power output by the subject's mass. We just leave the total power output in Watts. (For Prepared Formulas and An Interactive VO2 max calculator, See File Formula Input Form.xls) Interestingly, the test given on the website1 for calculating VO2 max (look for The Multi-Stage Fitness Test) differs in some ways from the one suggested in Activity Sheet 26. One of the differences is the increase of the speed is 0.5 kmh-1 every minute, not 1 kmh-1. Also, if the subject doesn't complete a whole minute at the speed of 15.5 kmh-1, for example if the subject managed to complete 3 out of the 13 laps, then the subject would have a different (lower) VO2 max than if 10 laps were completed. Later on, I will discuss this issue and other differences in more detail (Under the Evaluation). The Table (Table 1) If you refer to Table 1 (File Table 1.xls) you will see all of the information needed and all of the calculations have been done beforehand. I compiled this table using Microsoft Excel(r). Below is a brief explanation of the table. Column [1] The speed of the subject, in kmh-1. Column [2] The speed of the subject given in ms-1. To convert speed from kmh-1 to ms-1, we multiply by 1,000 (converting km to m) and divide by 3600 (à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½[60 x 60] is converting hours to seconds). Simplified, converting kmh-1 to ms-1 we multiply by 10/36. Therefore: Column [2] = Column [1] x 10/36 Column [3] The time taken to complete one lap can be worked out by the below formula Velocity (ms-1)= Distance (m) à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Time (s), if we re-arrange the formula to make time the subject we get: Time (s) = Distance (m) à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Velocity (ms-1). The distance is of one lap is 20 m and the velocity has been calculated in Column [2]. Column [3] is just: Column [3] = 20m à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Column [2]. Column [4] This is the number of laps made in one minute (60 seconds). If I know that it takes 8.47 s to run one lap, I can calculate the total number of laps made in 60 seconds be dividing 60 seconds by the time taken to run one lap. So: ? of Laps in 60 seconds = 60 seconds à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Time Taken to Run One Lap Column [4] = 60 s à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Column [3] Column [5] This is just Column [4] rounded up or down to give us an integer number of laps. It means I don't have to deal with 7.08 laps and suchlike. Column [6] This is the time taken to run the integer number of laps. We calculate this by multiplying the time taken to run one lap (Column [3]) by the integer number of laps (Column [5]). Time to Run Integer ? of Laps = Time to Run One Lap x Integer ? of Laps Column [6] = Column [3] x Column [5] Column [7] Since we know that each lap is 20 meters and we know how many integer laps the subject will run, we can find out the total distance covered during a specific speed by multiplying 20 meters by the integer number of laps. Total Distance Covered During a Speed = 20 m x Integer ? of Laps Column [7] = 20 m x Column [5] Column [8] Column [8] is the cumulative distance ran. Here, the distances are added up (accumulated) so that we know the total distance ran through the whole activity. The cumulative distance is the total of the previous distances (previous speeds) plus the distance of the current speed. Column [9] Column [9] is the cumulative time taken for the activity. It is in seconds and works in pretty much way as Column [8], i.e. the times of the previous runs are added to the current run to give the total cumulative time. Column [10] This is the cumulative time presented in a more familiar and user friendly format, the minute : second style. This is just here to give a sense of how long 840 seconds are. The Tape (or The Slideshow) In order to make the subject run at the times listed on the Table, I will need to prepare a tape or some sort of timing device. After attempting to make a tape and failing miserably, I decided to use Microsoft PowerPoint(r) instead (making the tape proved to be a long winded, boring and fruitless exercise), because, with PowerPoint, I can set time intervals between slide transitions and add sounds on every slide transition, making it a visual as well as an aural aid and I can have a lot more fun making it! (i.e. I can have lots of â€Å"interesting† and slightly odd sounds on the slide show) I also realised that it would be more helpful (to the subject) if I had a sound in the middle of each lap and to have a marker on the middle of the lap (10 meters). In case the subject is going too slowly and doesn't reach the middle marker when the middle bleep sounds, they can speed up to reach the end of the lap in time. However there is a slight disadvantage with using PowerPoint because the transition periods can only be set to 0.1 of a second (1 d.p.) and the lap times are given to 0.01 of a second (2 d.p.) and some of the half laps are to 0.001 of a second (3 d.p.). Therefore I have had to alter the timing of the transitions slightly so that there isn't a cumulative error. For example, during the first speed (8.5 kmh-1), it takes 4.235 seconds to complete half a lap, but I can only have 4.2 and 4.3 as time intervals in PowerPoint, therefore I had to find a pattern that consisted of 4.2 and 4.3 time intervals to fit the 4.235 time interval as well as possible. This technique took quite some time, however, using Excel helped greatly. With Excel, I could input different patterns (using 4.2 and 4.3 seconds) and view the sum automatically. If it wasn't right (i.e. if the total time wasn't near the time in Column [6] in Table 1), I simply changed the pattern until I got the closest time. Also I decided that there wasn't a need to go beyond 13.5 kmh-1 because when we did a warm up to the test (a kind of preliminary), none of the subjects managed to run over a thousand meters. In order for any of the subjects to complete the 13.5 kmh-1 speed, they would need to run at least 1100 meters, therefore there was no point in extending the presentation beyond that speed. (See Files Timing.xls for the pattern generating, and Timing Presentation.ppt, listen out for a treat during the last few slides) The Safety (Issues) It is always important to consider safety in any situation, and it is especially important in this type of activity where there is a fairly high risk of an accident and or an injury occurring. Below is a set of guidelines that the subject and others present during the activity should follow. The subject should begin with a five to ten minute warm-up period, before the test is started. It should consist of stretches and short runs where the subject should rapidly accelerate and then decelerate. This helps the subject to run better in the test and also helps avoiding any muscle cramps during the test. In the (relatively) unlikely event of the subject falling, or hurting him/herself in any other way, the subject should stop running immediately. Also if the subject feels any pain or dizziness, they should stop. The subject should not continue with the test, even if they seem or appear to have recovered. The Results The results are in the Result Sheet (unsurprisingly). The results were gathered from the experiment, which was conducted with ten subjects, including myself. They are in order of VO2 max. (The Results Table can be found in Results.xls) The Evaluation After completing the experiment, I worked out the aerobic power of the subjects very easily, with the help of Excel. I personally found the experiment enjoyable and it my got the heart pumping! (A somewhat rarity in physics, consider electricity†¦ ok, maybe pacemakers, and the way they electrically shock people who have had heart attacks with two funny looking handle things, not much else though). However, there were many problems I encountered while conducting the experiment. To begin with, we couldn't find a 20 meter track anywhere in our school, considering the fact that there had to be a socket close by since my timing mechanism uses a computer (there are three sports halls in the school, but they were all busy). Therefore, I had to settle for a smaller 10 meter track. The fact that I had midpoint bleeps in the timing mechanism meant that each bleep (midpoint and full-length bleeps) was a signal for the subjects to reach the end of the 10 meter track. This meant the timing was not affected, however the experiment could have been affected greatly. (See the Miscellaneous Calculations section) Secondly, in the Activity Sheet, it says, â€Å"For every litre of oxygen consumed, 20kJ of energy are transferred to the subject's muscles†. However it fails to mention whether or not some of that energy is lost as heat and other ways of energy loss (e.g. fiction from the ground, the energy needed to stop at the end of every lap and even the energy needed to move the muscles themselves, i.e. contracting and relaxing of muscles). There are no suggestions or hints on how much of the energy is used to propel the subject. Although this can be calculated in the kinetic energy equation, EK = 1/2mv2, and the power equation P = ?E/?t . However, I suspect that these energy fluctuations are taken into account via the VO2 max formula. But even the formula itself isn't very accurate in my opinion. As I mentioned earlier, if two subjects managed to sustain the same MAS (Maximum Aerobic Speed) but one of the subjects ran more laps, then logically that subject has a higher VO2 max. This logicality is not, in any way, included in the formula. On the website (See Note 1 of Reference) the tables show that if one of the subjects ran more laps during the same speed, that subject would have a higher VO2 max that if he/she managed to run a smaller number of laps. Therefore, I do not believe that the formula for calculating VO2 max on the Activity Sheet 26 gives a correct quantitative value of the subject's VO2 max. Although the experiment has shown that some of the subjects are fitter that others (i.e. the experiment is correct qualitatively), it did not produce reliable figures with regard to the VO2 max of the subject. On the first of the Activity Sheets, Figure A26.2 shows a line graph of VO2 max for boys and girls at different ages. According to the graph, 16-year-old boys should have a VO2 max of 52-53 mlO2 min-1 kg-1. Ops! (My VO2 max is nowhere near that, or at least the formula tells me that it is nowhere near that). It shows that I am not as healthy as I should be, considering that my mass is 85 kg! Unlike Robert, who is a very healthy person and managed to run at a high enough speed to get a high VO2 max. (Although I should stress again my doubt about the numbers given by the formula) The Miscellaneous Calculations A velocity-time curve of the subject's motion. Note the area under both of the curves should be equal since the same distance, 10 meters, is travelled. The distance is the speed multiplied by the time i.e. the area under the graph. A As mentioned earlier, the energy needed to propel a subject can be calculated via the kinetic energy equation. EK = 1/2mv2 and P = ?E/?t My mass is 85 kg. If I ran one lap at 8.5 kmh-1 (which is 2.36 ms-1, Refer to Table 1), the energy needed is: EK = 1/2mv2 so, EK = 1/2 x 85kg x (2.36ms-1)2 EK = 236.7 J If the above amount of energy were delivered by my muscles in one lap (10 meters, since that was the length each subject had to run) at 8.5 kmh-1, it would have taken 8.47/2 seconds (only half a lap, 10 meters). So: P = ?E/?t P = 236.7/4.235 P = 55.9 Js-1, W However, if I ran 20 meters, then the power is: P = 236.7/8.47 P = 27.9 Js-1, W The amount of energy accumulated while running a lap is then dissipated towards the end (of each lap) as the subject must come to rest i.e. the velocity is zero. Notice also that because the subject has to accelerate at the beginning of every lap, some extra energy is needed for that acceleration. The subject must accelerate every 10 meters because he/she has stop and then run in the opposite direction. As the lap distance decreases, the power transfer increases. This shortage (of lap distance) will also cause the subject to accelerate and decelerate more often. Therefore, the smaller the lap distance, the larger the error could be (due to the fact that some of the energy is used up in accelerating). Using a 10 meter track instead of a 20 meter track could have affected the results because this meant more energy used in accelerating. It is therefore, justifiable to say that had the track been longer (i.e. 20 meters), myself and all of the other subjects could have been able to sustain a higher speed instead of the one that was achieved.