Character and Scene Analysis for Melvin Udall in As Good As essays

Character and Scene Analysis for Melvin Udall in As Good As essays Character and Scene Analysis for Melvin Udall in As Good As It Gets Melvin is the ever popular cranky, old man that is constantly seen in numerous movies, plays and books. With the superior attitude that wants no one to bother him, the audience notices as he nitpicks any flaw or even just a difference in every character he encounters. For instance, he feels the need to mention to Roger the art dealer that hes black and one immediately notes his bigotry unfold as he becomes increasingly more nervous just being around him; this is because he thinks Roger will rob him and beat him senseless. This is a ridiculous notion, since Roger is more extravagantly dressed than Melvin is. It is obvious through this action that he has had little contact with black people, so he must carry misconceptions about them, only learned from television and the news. He is so trapped in such a little bubble of ignorance and stubbornness, that he doesnt want to learn how people different from him, actually share common interests. He doesnt make an effort towards this e nlightenment, because he is not open to making new friends, or even acquaintances. He actually has no positive relationships in life, besides the one with himself. But even that relationship is somewhat weak, as he cant trust himself to step on cracks or have civil conversations with a stranger. The truth is Melvin has no friends. Judging by his critical, detached attitude in his actions with diverse characters, one would connote that either he had few or no friends growing up or that he had strong relationships with women or friends that were broken and were hard to get over, thus making him reluctant give himself up to anyone else. He cant even take a sincere compliment when Simons Hispanic maid tells Melvin Youre a wonderful person. for walking his dog. Melvin shrugs it off without accepting it, with a sarcastic Ok, wha...

Creative Ideas for Extracurricular Activities

Creative Ideas for Extracurricular Activities Rubiks Cube may not seem to have much to do with college admissions, but anything an applicant is passionate about can be transformed into a winning piece of a college application. This article explores how Rubiks Cube and other quirky interests can become meaningful extracurricular activities. Avoiding Burn-Out in High School A high school student wrote in the college admissions forum that he was worried about his burn-out and his lack of extracurricular activities. He also mentioned his passion for Rubiks Cube. This combination of passion and burn-out gets to the heart of a good college application strategy. Far too many students join clubs, compete in sports, and play instruments because they feel these activities are essential for getting into college, not because they actually have any passion for these extracurriculars. When you spend a lot of time doing something you dont love, you will burn out. What Can Count as an Extracurricular Activity? College applicants should think broadly about what can be defined as an extracurricular activity (see What Counts as an Extracurricular Activity?). Not everyone can be or wants to be class president, drum major, or the lead in the school play. And the truth is, unusual extracurricular activities are going to make your application stand out more than membership in Chess Club and Debate Team (mind you, Chess Club and Debate Team are both fine extracurriculars). So, getting back to the Rubiks Cube can ones love of the Cube be classified as an extracurricular? If handled correctly, yes. No college will be impressed by the applicant who spends four hours a day sitting alone in a room playing with a puzzle, but consider something like this example: if youre really into cubing and decided to make a cube club at your school, finding others who were interested and creating the club, it could look good on an application because it shows that youre taking charge and starting something that will be beneficial for others. Heres a Rubiks Cube lover who turned that passion into a school club. The applicant demonstrates leadership and organization skills by taking the initiative to transform his passion into something more than a solitary hobby. And note that leadership is key when it comes to the best extracurricular activities. An impressive extracurricular isnt defined by the activity itself, but by what the student accomplishes with the activity. The student could take this club one step further to accomplish the dual goals of getting into college and helping others how about using the club to fundraise for a charity? Create a Rubiks Cube competition; collect donations; get sponsors use the club to raise money and awareness for a worthy cause. The main point here isnt just about Rubiks Cube, but about extracurriculars. The best college applicants remain true to their interests and passions. Think broadly and creatively about extracurriculars to figure out how to transform your passions into something meaningful that will be a pleasure for you, a benefit to others, and an impressive part on your college application.

Raelianism Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Raelianism - Research Paper Example Vorilhon, who now assumed the titular name of Rael (2006), described it as the religion of the infinite, â€Å"an atheist religion whose goals are the diffusion of the messages of demystification, given by the Elohim, to the Earth’s population, and to build an embassy where they will make official contact with the governments of the Earth† (p. 248). Based on its history, its development and its objectives, Raelianism can be considered a legitimate form of faith, regardless of the strangeness of its practices and rituals. It has persisted for decades and this alone makes the religion worth a closer look. History and Philosophy Unlike other groups, claiming to be a form of religion such as Scientology and even the Mormons, Raelianism is not overly secretive and is quite open with regards to its beliefs, rituals and history. Its beginnings, hence, is readily available to those who want to be initiated are interested to know. Its history began during that fateful day in 197 3 when Rael claimed to be driving in the middle of nowhere when the Elohim materialized. As per Rael’s account, these beings are extraterrestrials who came to the Earth and created life through scientific technologies. This was supposedly revealed to him and the responsibility to inform mankind and to prepare them to meet their makers rest on his hands. Thus, Raelianism was founded. The Raelian teachings, philosophies or what one would call catechism or dogma in the Christian religion are closely tied with existing religious texts such as the Bible. The idea is to view everything from their theoretical point of view. Here, the Christian God becomes the Elohim, a highly advanced extraterrestrial being. He was not an all too powerful omniscient or omnipresent mystical God but just an advanced race, with technological capability to design, manipulate and create life. For further insights, one could turn to the manner in which Raelian belief interpreted some parts of the biblical Genesis. Genesis 1:1 became: â€Å"In the beginning Elohim created the heaven and earth† (Rael, p. 11). The corresponding explanation revealed the framework further and to quote: Elohim, translated without justification in some Bibles by the word God means in Hebrew â€Å"those who came from the sky†, and furthermore the world is a plural. It means that the scientists from our world searched for a planet that was suitable to carry out their projects. They â€Å"created†, or in reality discovered the Earth, and realized it contained all the necessary elements for the creation of artificial life (p.11). The above example showed how Raelian belief tries to reconcile the religious texts that the world has with the concepts and artifacts of technology as we know or conceive of it today. It is not unlike rationalizing the mysteries of many religions, grounding it on scientific concepts. Eller (2007) summarized what the Raelianism stands for by saying that it is a â⠂¬Å"self-consciously atheistic religion† and that â€Å"the various world scriptures are attempts to communicate this reality but are garbled and confused† (p.268). The Elohim allegedly explained - and, therefore, such explanation became a core component of Raelian philosophy - that â€Å"the world’s existing religion were founded as a result of their direct communication with a series of human prophets for the purpose of implanting the idea of humanity’

Facebook Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Facebook - Essay Example Ashley Watson lists Starbucks, Victoria’s Secret, Zara, McDonalds, H&M, Taco Bell, Subway, Lacoste, Hollister and Forever as the top ten most liked retailers advertising on Facebook and claims they are selling themselves on the site as they discovered it as an innovative way of letting themselves be known to consumers. The advertisers on Facebook generally let their products known on the networking site because of the number of people they can reach as friends of targeted consumers see what they are engaged with when they click on the like button below the pictures of advertisers (Stambor). In addition, Facebook advertising is cheaper on the part of the retailers while they are still able to reach more consumers with the help of their prospects’ free advertisements tot their friends. As mentioned earlier in the ads of Facebook, retailers are also able to interact with customers, telling them more about their products and answering questions which makes consumers appreciate or give suggestions to the retailers. Being the top among the ten retailers mentioned earlier, Starbucks gained its status with a well done Facebook page (Lee) where they communicate with their customers, updating them with new products, promotions and other pertinent information that engage their fans. One noted activity of the retailer is giving away free products when they print out invitations from their advertisement on the networking site which increased their production within the promotional period. Another retailer that took great advantage of the site’s advertisement page is the controversial Taco Bell (Lee, Singer) with the lawsuit claiming its Taco fillings do not meet the standard requirement of the USDA to be labeled as beef, the retailer used Facebook to pacify consumers. It is giving away ten million coupons to those who like them on Facebook which consequently entitles them for free Tacos and the more than five million followers of Taco Bell

Use of Technology Essay Example for Free

Use of Technology Essay The information age presents many challenges for those in education and government where there is the need for the whole population to be able to access and use new technologies. This will include use of computers, the internet and digital television which is key in determining and establishing a skilled workforce and empowered citizenry for the twenty first century; the possibility and potential of these new technologies to allow people to learn throughout the life-course is also seen as a ready means of establishing developed countries as a learning society. Governments around the world have come out and set targets and development policies to help all adult technologies – information communication technology- in making these users friendly in their own environments, (Selwyn, Gorard, Furlong, 2006). Despite the sums of money being invested in ICT and education, there is the need for establishing how close the society is in establishing technology based learning societies and the challenges that might be faced along the way. There is also the need to recognize the promise and potential of new technologies, mapping how ICT and ICT-based learning fit with the everyday lives of each individual as well as the ability of research in the community. In this time and age, many of us already have a hand held mobile device, a hand held computing device of some description as well as some form of Internet access in the homes or at the office. As well, the enthusiasts of the power of technology see the need to support and shape our everyday activities proliferate via newspapers, textbooks and television screens. All these are learning avenues and as well these have increased to e-commerce, e-tailing, cybersex, blogging, networked computerized technologies in the nineteenth century revolution; inspired by grand notions of globalization and post modernity, some scholars have taken to portraying adults in the early twenty-first century as living in a plentiful post-physical age where all that is solid melts into bits The importance of learning in information society The prominence of education and learning within the post-industrial, information society analysis was in no small part responsible for the high profile reassessment of education and training by educators and politicians in developing countries over the latter half of the 1990s. In countries such  as the UK, this was infamously embodied in New Labor’s 1977 election commitment to concentrate on education. The information society and knowledge economy agenda were particularly evident in the rise of political favor during the 1990s of the broad concept of lifelong learning, a notion embracing not only the compulsory phases of education but also education throughout adult life. This lifelong learning involves more than a narrow technical adjustment to the organization of educational provision; it is an attempted transformation in learning opportunities in order to meet the implicit demands of the information society/knowledge economy. If it is accepted that the production and distribution of knowledge and information are increasingly significant processes in the determination of global economic competitiveness and development, which are reflected in turn, in economic growth, employment change and levels of welfare, then the capacities of organizations and individuals to engage successfully in the learning process of a variety of kinds is an obvious determinant of economic performance. Policies and usage of ICT in schools For an effective learning environment in schools that incorporate ICT, the use of computers need to have policy frameworks to specify their use and how effective they will be in their use as this will give a general guideline in use as well as maintenance. In South Africa, the proportion of principles indicating the existence of written policies for both the lower and upper education levels were virtually the same, but emphasis was quite different. In almost all the schools too, there was a common vision on ICT as a policy goal that pay attention to norms and values when using services such as the internet; a survey in south Africa revealed that such visions were fully or partially realized both at the upper and the lower levels as other principals reported that developing a common vision was realized as a goal, (Howie, Muller, Paterson, 2005) On the other hand, at the upper level involving mature learning, it is certainly not hard to detect enthusiasms for ICT based technologies within the educational literature, reflecting the proliferation of new technologies such as the computer and internet in adult changing settings. In essence and principle, ICTs are argued to make learning more effective and more equitable, to offer a diverse range of  learning opportunities to a diverse range of adult learners on a suitable, convenient and cost effective basis as technology has been heralded by some to facilitate learning which is eclectic, holistic and flexible. In short, this is to say that ICTs are portrayed as making the wider goals of the knowledge economy and information society, (Howie, Muller, Paterson, 2005) Conclusion According to Law, Yuen Fox, (2011), sustaining or transformative uses of technology do not depend on technology alone, they also depend on the intended use of the technology in the specific educational contexts, often, and specific technologies priorities certain uses and hence can be used more easily for sustaining or transformative purposes. Such prioritization is not deterministic as further, the characteristic that mist influences the choice and deployment of ICT in school education is the pedagogical decision-making of the teacher. This in turn is determined by the curriculum goals and training as well as pedagogical competencies of the teacher, (Law, 2008) Transformative use of technology in schools and education as discussed above are those that are integral to the implementation of innovative pedagogical practices. This involves the changing roles of the teachers, learners and members of the community, and the power relationships among these three groups. The way learning outcomes are assessed and staff performance is appraised also changes, thus challenging the predominant value and reward system inherent in the education system today. In particular, the integration of ICT in learning can be an effective tool in widening education participation, supporting a diversity of educational provision as well as lead to better form and outcomes of adult learning. ? Work Cited Howie, S. J., Muller, A., Paterson, A. (2005). Information and Communication Technologies in. Howie, S. J., Muller, A., Paterson, A. (2005). Information and Communication Technologies in (n.d.): 1-9. Web. Sept.-Oct. 2014. This journal discusses the benefits of using technology in education, as well as the challenges it has created. The writer’s thoroughly researched paper convinces its readers of the vastness of the technological world. South Africa: Reforming Higher Education and Transforming the National System of Innovation. Academia.edu. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Oct. 2014. This article is written to inform its readers about, the transformation of education with rapid inventions of newer technologies. Nurturing Leadership and Establishing Learning Organizations. Educational Innovations Beyond Technology. N.p., n.d. Web. Oct.-Nov. 2014.Selwyn, N., Gorard, S., Furlong, J. (2006). This research discuses the methods and technological innovations used in learning. Adult Learning in the Digital Age: Information Technology and the Learning Society. N.p., n.d. Web. Oct.-Nov. 2014. This research discusses the use of technology in education, as well as its impact on education.

The Effects of Technology on Society Essay -- Papers Computers Modern

Today we swim in a sea of ever-changing technology that affects us as much as our thoughts and actions shape it. The technology we have chosen, either by the preferences of those who use it, or the agendas of those who own and benefit from it, has had its own influence on us from gross examples such as increased pollution, or a higher Western-style standard of living, to the way one person perceives another. Some people who resist using some, or even all technology; they are often called Luddites by those who embrace all things new; another type calls themselves Neo-Luddites, such as Kirkpatrick Sale. In his book Human scale, Sale describes the slow rotting of the stones of the Parthenon and other ancient monuments to civilization from the acid pollution developed by our present Industrial civilization and compares it to the slow disintegration our industrialized society has seemed to have undergone. He identifies effects of technology which have been harmful to the human condition and the environment, but seems to not quite "get it" about the Luddites: they were not fighting the machines themselves; they were struggling against powers of society that, for the past century, through enclosure and the abolishment of commonality [and the subsequent arisal of a class of people who lived by renting their labor: the working class] (Laslett, 195), had been seeking to disempower and disenfranch ise the mass of people, and were now striking anew with the latest, and most powerful manifestation of their social policies, the Industrial Factory. The men of Nottinghamshire who died as Luddites were fighting a system, not a technology, a system whose intentions were not to cut costs and increase efficiency, but to increase the co... ... Bibliography: References Black, Bob (1987). The abolition of work. In Sylvere Lotringer and Jim Fleming (Eds.), Semiotext[e] USA (pp. 15-26). Browning, J. (1996, July). New stars for a new media. Scientific American, p. 31. Laslett, Peter (1984). The world we have lost. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. Law, John, Ed. (1991) A sociology of monsters: essays on power, technology and domination. London: Routledge. Martinez, E. (1996, April). You call this service? Technology Review, pp. 64-65. Noble, David F. (1984). Forces of production. New York: Alfred A, Knopf. O'Malley, C. (1995, June). Drowning in the net. Popular Science, pp. 78-88. Sale, Kirkpatrick (1980). Human scale. New York: Coward, McCann, & Geoghegan. Stix, G. (1994, December). The speed of write. Scientific American, pp. 106-111.

“Murder in the Cathedral” by T. S. Eliot Essay

Murder in the Cathedral is a verse drama by T. S. Eliot that portrays the assassination of Archbishop Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170, first performed in 1935. Eliot drew heavily on the writing of Edward Grim, a clerk who was an eyewitness to the event. The play, dealing with an individual’s opposition to authority, was written at the time of rising Fascism in Central Europe, and can be taken as a protest to individuals in affected countries to oppose the Nazi regime’s subversion of the ideals of the Christian Church.[1] Some material that the producer asked Eliot to remove or replace during the writing was transformed into the poem â€Å"Burnt Norton†.[2] The action occurs between December 2 and December 29, 1170, chronicling the days leading up to the martyrdom of Thomas Becket following his absence of seven years in France. Becket’s internal struggle is the main focus of the play. The book is divided into two parts. Part one takes place in the Archbishop Thomas Becket’s hall on December 2, 1170. The play begins with a Chorus singing, foreshadowing the coming violence. The Chorus is a key part of the drama, with its voice changing and developing during the play, offering comments about the action and providing a link between the audience and the characters and action, as in Greek drama. Three priests are present, and they reflect on the absence of Becket and the rise of temporal power. A herald announces Becket’s arrival. Becket is immediately reflective about his coming martyrdom, which he embraces, and which is understood to be a sign of his own selfishness—his fatal weakness. The tempters arrive, three of whom parallel the Temptations of Christ. The first tempter offers the prospect of physical safety. Take a friend’s advice. Leave well alone, Or your goose may be cooked and eaten to the bone. The second offers power, riches and fame in serving the King. To set down the great, protect the poor, Beneath the throne of God can man do more? The third tempter suggests a coalition with the barons and a chance to resist the King. For us, Church favour would be an advantage, Blessing of Pope powerful protection In the fight for liberty. You, my Lord, In being with us, would fight a good stroke Finally, a fourth tempter urges him to seek the glory of martyrdom. You hold the keys of heaven and hell. Power to bind and loose : bind, Thomas, bind, King and bishop under your heel. King, emperor, bishop, baron, king: Becket responds to all of the tempters and specifically addresses the immoral suggestions of the fourth tempter at the end of the first act: Now is my way clear, now is the meaning plain: Temptation shall not come in this kind again. The last temptation is the greatest treason: To do the right deed for the wrong reason. The Interlude of the play is a sermon given by Becket on Christmas morning 1170. It is about the strange contradiction that Christmas is a day both of mourning and rejoicing, which Christians also do for martyrs. He announces at the end of his sermon, â€Å"it is possible that in a short time you may have yet another martyr†. We see in the sermon something of Becket’s ultimate peace of mind, as he elects not to seek sainthood, but to accept his death as inevitable and part of a better whole. Part II of the play takes place in the Archbishop’s Hall and in the Cathedral, December 29, 1170. Four knights arrive with â€Å"Urgent business† from the king. These knights had heard the king speak of his frustration with Becket, and had interpreted this as an order to kill Becket. They accuse him of betrayal, and he claims to be loyal. He tells them to accuse him in public, and they make to attack him, but priests intervene. The priests insist that he leave and protect himself, but he refuses. The knights leave and Becket again says he is ready to die. The chorus sings that they knew this conflict was coming, that it had long been in the fabric of their lives, both temporal and spiritual. The chorus again reflects on the coming devastation. Thomas is taken to the Cathedral, where the knights break in and kill him. The chorus laments: â€Å"Clean the air! Clean the sky!†, and â€Å"The land is foul, the water is foul, our beasts and ourselves defiled with blood.† At the close of the play, the knights step up, address the audience, and defend their actions. The murder was all right and for the best: it was in the right spirit, sober, and justified so that the church’s power would not undermine stability and state power.

Understanding Inclusive Learning and Teaching in Lifelong Learning

Form 2Assessment front sheet and feedback record PTLLS Level 3/4 Unit No:| | Learner name:| | Enrolment number:| | Date issued:| | Date submitted:| | I confirm that the evidence for this unit is authentic and a true representation of my own work. Learner signature:| | Date:| | Feedback: Continue on a separate sheet if necessary, see overleaf Tutor/Assessor/Marker and IQA’s signatures (IQA if sampled) must appear on the following page. Learners do not complete this box| Feedback: Continued from previous page) | Marker/Tutor/Assessor name:| | Grade| | Date| | Resubmission date (if referred):| | Grade| | Date| | IQA’s name (if sampled)| | | Date| | Understanding inclusive learning and teaching in lifelong learning I have delivered a teaching session covering for a colleague on sick leave. It was the first time I had worked with the group within which there was an ESOL learner, a learner with dyslexia, a learner who receives learning support and a learner with disruptive te ndencies.I am writing a journal entry for my professional development file which is presented according to the stages of the teaching cycle (See: Figure 1A The teaching cycle, Wilson, 2008, p15). This text is an analysis of the learning and teaching strategies used with an evaluation of the effectiveness of your approaches to learning and teaching in meeting the needs of learners. Also, this text is an analysis of how I selected resources to meet the needs of learners with an explanation of how I created assessment opportunities that met the needs of learners.It has been a great challenge to deliver a unique teaching session to these learners for the first time. To ensure teaching to be effective, I have followed the teaching cycle mentioned earlier as follows: the Identify need stage; the Design stage; the Implement stage and the Evaluation stage. * The Identify need stage: Before the session day, I have gathered as much information as accessible, related to the all group of learne rs (i. e. umber of students, general behaviour of the group, etc. ), the programme’s progression (In this instance, based on an existing standardisation I have found out what had been taught previously and what I had had to teach. ). During the session, I started by introducing myself to the group with an explanation of the reasons why I was standing in front of them. This enabled the learners to acknowledge me as their teacher and get ready for the session.Then, I did a diagnostic assessment through an ice-breaker to ascertain the learners had prior knowledge of the subject to be taken, to identify their preferred learning styles, to let them to choose a colour (The colour was used as font for a power point presentation and prints on pastry paper to help the dyslexic learner. ) and to enable them introduce each other. I skipped the information, advice and guidance (IAG) procedures because the course is standardised and the group has attended few sessions with my colleague in the past. The Design stage This stage was important because â€Å"To fail to plan is to plan to fail† (Petty 2004: 422). I did not need to create a scheme of work because my colleague was expected to return back to teach the next sessions. I prepared a session plan to reflect how I would create an inclusive teaching session. I created hand-outs (In this instance, I used on side of coloured pastel paper to suit the dyslexic learner) and power-point presentation which promote all aspects of society, equality and diversity.I had a contingency plan in case anything has gone wrong. Having taken into account the fact that their learning needs, learning styles and learning goals were quite different, I planned for a differentiated delivery to address individual differences. I included small group work to suit kinaesthetic learners and weak learners (In this instance it is about the ESOL learner and the learner who receives learning support), discussion to suit auditory learners and simulation to suit visual learners. * The Implement stageAfter discussion with the learners, we agreed and established ground rules to promote good behaviour and respect for everyone in the group. Soon after the ice-breaker activity, I used another activity to negotiate with the learners, ground rules which banned disruptive tendencies expressively. Each rule of the ground rules was written by one learner on a single A4 paper visible during the session. Like the other learners of the group, the learner with disruptive tendencies felt included with the opportunity to take ownership, then, followed the rules.I avoided favouritism and positive discrimination. I ensured to comply with the Equality Act (2010) and to include all learners in the session. The ESOL learner was allocated extra time to complete tasks. The learner who receives learning support had the opportunity to work collectively with other learners of the group. To meet the needs of the dyslexic learner, the chosen colour of the group was used on hand-outs and as the power-point slides’ font.

U.S. Subprime loan Issue Essays

U.S. Subprime loan Issue Essays U.S. Subprime loan Issue Essay U.S. Subprime loan Issue Essay The purpose of this report is to analyze the reasons of the sub-prime crisis, which has created worldwide financial market problems in recent time. The main Sub-prime issue will be focused in the US, but global impact throughout the world and examples from the Australian Financial markets will also be discussed. Sub-prime lending originated in the US and had evolved with the realization of a demand in the marketplace and businesses providing a supply to meet it coupled with the unwillingness on the part of legislators at the national level to recognize the inherent risks to consumers (wikipedia, 2008). In recent years, sub-prime lending had increased significantly due to several factors. Such as the housing downturn-housing bubble, carelessness of financial institutions and credit agency when lending money to sub-prime borrowers, the increasing practice of securitizations and hedge funds. These factors contribute to sub-prime crisis problems faced by the world now. The impact of the sub-prime crisis causes great losses to financial institution and some had even filed bankruptcy. The economy now is also facing credit crunch, which decreases economic growth. Financial institutions and companies such as Australian New Zealand Bank (ANZ), Macquarie Bank, Centro Properties Group and ABC Learning Centre are given as examples to demonstrate the impact of sub-prime crisis in Australia. Information for this report is taken from electronic newspapers, magazines and Internet articles. As a conclusion, due to the credit squeeze that results from the sub-prime loan issue, banks will increase interest rate for loan and will be more careful and strict in providing loans to the borrowers. Stock price will continue to decline, as investors will not want to invest their money in high-risk investment. However, investment in Australia will increase as investors see that Australia being a more stable economy is more attractive than US in the meantime. 2 Introduction 2.1 Background information Sub-prime loan is a type of loan that is offered at a rate above prime to individuals who do not qualify for prime rate loans. The additional percentage points of interest often translate to tens of thousands of dollars worth of additional interest payments over the life of a longer-term loan (investopedia, 2008). Sub-prime lending originated in the US and had evolved with the realization of a demand in the marketplace and businesses providing a supply to meet it coupled with the unwillingness on the part of legislators at the national level to recognize the inherent risks to consumers (wikipedia, 2008). Having emerged more than two decades ago, sub-prime mortgage lending began to expand in earnest in the mid-1990s, the expansion spurred in large part by innovations that reduced the costs for lenders of assessing and pricing risks. In particular, technological advances make it easier for lenders to collect and disseminate information on the creditworthiness of prospective borrowers (Bernanke, 2007). The ongoing growth and development of the secondary mortgage market has reinforced the effect of these innovations. Whereas once most lenders held mortgages on their books until the loans were repaid, regulatory changes and other developments have permitted lenders to more easily sell mortgages to financial intermediaries, who in turn pool mortgages and sell the cash flows as structured securities. The growth of the secondary market has thus given mortgage lenders greater access to the capital markets, lowered transaction costs, and spread risk more broadly, thereby increasing the supply of mortgage credit to all types of households (Bernanke, 2007). The value of U.S. sub-prime mortgages was estimated at $1.3 trillion as of March 2007 (associated press, 2007), with over 7.5 million first-lien sub-prime mortgages outstanding (Bernanke, 2007). 3 Body 3.1 Reasons for the Sub-prime loan crisis 3.1.1 Housing downturn- housing bubble As shown in figure 1 and 2 in appendix 1, due to increasing stocks value and decreasing interest rates, since around 2001, house prices have soared way above the current housing price. Homeowners have seen their wealth climb due to the increase in selling price of the house (time magazine, 2005). Thus enabling them to buy a second home under a sub-prime loan, thinking that they will get a more favourable terms as rising house price usually occurs for a long period of time. The amount of outstanding loan secured by mortgages increased significantly (time magazine, 2005). After an amazing four-year boom in residential real estate, the housing market could finally be topping out and heading for a downturn (Coy et al, 2004), which is when the bubble burst, around 2006, the prices of the house fell. Demand for housing decline and there is an oversupply of housing, which results in low housing price. The borrowers, facing the risks of being unable to pay the monthly loans choose to default , which increase foreclosures, thus causing losses to the major lenders. As shown in figure 3 in appendix 1, the housing bubble reached its peak in 2005, and started to deflate in 2006 and accelerated since. According to Lahart (2007), In June 2006, sales of existing single-family homes were 9% below their year-earlier level, sales of new homes were down 15% and framing lumber prices were down 19%. 3.1.2 Roles of financial institutions Due to moral hazards and lack of supervisions by the regulators, the regulations of providing loans to sub-prime borrowers become less strict. Therefore, many major mortgage brokers, accepts borrowers with very poor credit risk in order to get bonuses as they steer borrowers to very high interest rates. As shown in figure 1 below, sub-prime mortgage originations grew from $173 billion in 2001 to a record level of $665 billion in 2005, which represented an increase of nearly 300% (investopedia, 2008). Figure. 1 Sub-prime mortgage origination Source: investopedia.com These mortgage brokers give loans to borrowers at an adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) where interest rates are periodically adjusted based on a variety of indexes (Macdonald, 2004). In addition to considering higher-risk borrowers, lenders have offered increasingly high-risk loan options and incentives. One example is the interest-only adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM), which allows the homeowner to pay just the interest (not principal) during an initial period. Another example is a payment option loan, in which the homeowner can pay a variable amount, but any interest not paid is added to the principal. Further, an estimated one-third of ARM originated between 2004-2006 had teaser rates below 4%, which then increased significantly after some initial period, as much as doubling the monthly payment (Trehan, 2007). Due to the decline in housing prices and inflation, the Federal Reserve increases interest rate. Thus, in order for the lenders to maintain profits, they set a higher interest rate (ARM) which results in people defaulting their mortgage, increasing foreclosures. 3.1.3 Role of credit agency Credit rating agency (CAR) mainly the Standard Poors (S;P), Moodys Investors Service and Fitch Group had assures collateral debt obligation (CDO) buyers the quality of the investments as each had blessed most of the CDO with the highest rating of AAA or Aaa (Tomlinson Evans, 2007). As shown in Figure 2, the value of the once rated AAA CDO had been decreasing below par value. Banks that had been underwriting MBS and CDO admitted $30 billion in losses. Citigroup estimates that big banks may be facing $64 billion write-downs, excluding its own figures- Citibank was one of the top two underwriters of CDOs (The economist, 2007). Figure. 2 credit rating on sub-prime performance in 2007 Source: economist.com 3.1.4 Role of Securitization In the mortgage market, securitization converts mortgages to mortgage- backed securities (MBS) (wikipedia, 2008). These MBS are sold to investors and the secondary market as securities so that the mortgage originators will be able to pool more funds thus can lend to many more borrowers, increasing profits. Investors now bear the related credit default risks of the mortgage payment. The MBSs are structured so that interest payments on the mortgages are at least sufficient to cover the interest payments due on the bonds. Principal payments on the mortgages are used to pay down the principal on the bonds. Since investors can invest in MBSs directly or indirectly (e.g., through mutual funds), these asset-backed securities allow a broad investor base to help fund home mortgages. In part for this reason, an increasing share of home mortgages have been securitized, with the ratio of MBSs to total mortgages now over 50% as shown in figure 3 below (wessel, 2007). Figure 3 Increasing share of securitized home mortgages Source: http://economistsview.typepad.com 3.1.5 Hedge funds Another party that added to the mess was the hedge fund industry. It aggravated the problem not only by pushing rates lower, but also by fueling the market volatility that caused investor losses. There is a type of hedge fund strategy known as credit arbitrage which involves purchasing sub-prime bonds on credit and hedging these positions with credit default swaps, it increases demand for Collateral debt obligation (CDO). Because hedge funds use a significant amount of leverage, losses were amplified and many hedge funds shut down operations as they ran out of money in the face of margin calls (investopedia, 2008). 3.2 Global impact The shock waves emanating from the sub-prime mortgage earthquake are now spreading around the financial world. The collateral damage is being unveiled so quickly that it is difficult keeping up with all the collapsed hedge funds, injured banks, and defaulting mortgage brokers (Numerian, 2007). 3.2.1 Credit crunch and the effect in the banking sector The credit crunch was sparked as a result of the housing slump, rising interest rates, and record defaults in the sub-prime sector of the United States, and over recent weeks the global repercussions of this crisis have become increasingly evident. The credit crunch affected the Northern Rock bank in Britain most. When the fact of the credit crunch was discovered, many of the banks 1.5 million savers queued at all hours of the day and night in order to withdraw their savings amidst fears that the bank might be on the verge of collapse (Kenny, 2007). The run on the Northern Rocks continued for days, despite the Bank of Englands intervention with a guarantee of deposits (Long, 2007). In the space of a few days, over two billion pounds was withdrawn from Northern Rock by worried savers. Not only did this damage the company financially but it also did not favours in terms of its reputation, and many experts predicted that even if the bank survived the financial losses it would not surviv e the damage to its reputation. Northern Rock also saw its share prices plummet at the start of the chaos, with over 80% being shaved of share values (Kenny, 2007). 3.2.2 Effect in hedge funds Bear Stearns, the New York investment bank, announced that two of its hedge funds had invested in these sub-prime bonds, and were now broke. Bear Stearns for one of its funds had raised about $600 million in cash from investors, but then borrowed over $5 billion more from banks to leverage up the profits in the fund. They lost $600 million immediately due to the accelerating price depreciation (BBC news, 2008). 3.2.3 Effect in equity markets Stock is a form of equity instrument. Due to the crisis and increase in interest rate, stock prices have fallen significantly. Causing loss to many financial markets and institutions. Stocks like Mizuno Bank of Japan have dropped 10% or more merely from announcing some losses in their investment portfolios. In the case of American Home Mortgage Investment Corp., that stock has fallen 90% amid market rumors that the company is facing bankruptcy (Numerian, 2007). Another example was the Thornburg mortgage (TMA); a stock exchange company was forced to sell off $21.9 billion of assets to raise cash as its stock dropped 65% in two-and-a-half weeks in 2007. (Steverman, 2007). In 2008, within 3 months time, the share price had decreased by 85.10%. 3.2.4 Effect in financial institutions Due to the heavy investments in the MBS and CDOs in the US market, many financial institutions including banks, investment banks, hedge funds, mortgagers have suffered significant losses as a result of mortgage payment defaults or mortgage asset devaluation. As of April 3, 2008 financial institutions had recognized sub-prime-related losses or write-downs exceeding U.S. $210 billion (wikipedia, 2008). As shown in table 1, the top 3 banks that suffer the greatest amount of MBS and CDOs loans are the UBS AG ($37.77 bln), Citigroup ($24.1 bln), and Merrill Lynch investment bank ($22.5 bln), (BBC news, 2008). Table 1 Write-downs on the value of loans, MBS and CDOs MAIN CREDIT CRUNCH LOSSES UBS: $37.4bn Merrill Lynch: $22bn Citigroup: $21.1bn HSBC: $17.2bn Morgan Stanley: $9.4bn Deutsche Bank: $7.1bn Bank of America: $5.3bn Bear Stearns: $3.2bn JP Morgan Chase: $3.2bn BayernLB $3.2bn Barclays: $2.6bn IKB: $2.6bn Royal Bank of Scotland: $2.6bn Credit Suisse: $2bn Source: Company reports Source: ;http://news.bbc.co.uk; 3.3 Impact in Australias Financial Market According to analyst, the exposure to the US sub-prime mortgage market will not produce significant losses for the Australian banks, market conditions for credit have tightened in recent weeks. Australian banks are typically reliant on wholesale funding for a large part of their total funding requirements. The cost of accessing the wholesale market has also increased. If prolonged, the current liquidity crunch could impact the ability of Australian banks to do business through higher funding costs and, potentially, result in difficulty refinancing debt as it matures, particularly commercial paper. The latter is likely to be more of an issue for the smaller institutions (anonymous, 2007). However, not only banks are affected. Many companies are also exposed to the sub-prime crisis, as discussed in the examples below. 3.3.1 Australian New Zealand Bank (ANZ) The Australian New Zealand Bank (ANZ) has boosted its forecast provisions for bad and doubtful debt to $975 million, mainly due to a higher collective provision charge (herald sun, 2008). Due to the effect of the credit crunch, ANZ will bolster its variable lending rates by 20 basis points in order to cover the banks profit margins and protect earnings from the sub-prime fallout, analysts predict (Murdoch, 2008). The news sent ANZ shares tumbling. They closed down 6.6%, or $1.55, at $22.01. Rival banks were also on the slide, with National Australia Bank shedding 4.7%, or $1.46, to $29.64, Westpac falling 4%, or $1, to $24.13 and Commonwealth Bank losing 3.12%, or $1.42, to $44.06 (Zappone ; Saulwick, 2008). As shown in appendix 3, the ANZ share in the stock market have been declining since 2007, although there is a little variation in the increase and decrease of the share price. The ANZ share price have decreased from around $32.00 to $ 20.9400 as of 11 April 2008, however, there is a 1.8% increase in stock price compared to the previous day (the age, 2008). 3.3.2 Macquarie Bank Macquarie Securitization is Australias fourth-largest issuer of residential mortgage-backed securities, according to Standard Poors. The top three are St. George Bank, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Challenger Financial Services. It has about 2.5 percent of outstanding housing loans in Australia (Thomas ; Lefort, 2008). Macquarie Bank Limited announced on 5 March 2008 that Macquarie Securitization Ltd would wind-back its Australian residential mortgage origination services for both retail and wholesale customers due to the significant increase in the cost of funding mortgages and current conditions in the global mortgage securitization market, but would continue to provide full service to Macquaries existing Australian customers who hold 95,000 loan facilities (Macquarie, 2008). Given the current conditions in the global credit markets and low investor sentiment, Macquarie Banks share price has suffered a similar fate to other big banks in Australia, falling nearly 40% since its high of $83.59 in January (Australasian Investment Review, 2008). As at 11 April 2008, Macquarie Group Limited share was $ 54.7900, which is a 4.5% increase since the previous day, as shown in appendix 4 (the age, 2008). 3.3.3 Centro Properties Group The global credit crunch broke out of the banking sector for the first time, sending Australias second-biggest shopping centre owner into crisis and wiping more than $50 billion off the stock market. Shares in Centro Properties Group collapsed by 76 per cent after the company admitted it had been unable to refinance $3.9billion worth of maturing debt in the risk-averse credit markets. Centro, which ranks second to Westfield in the Australian shopping mall market with 124 centres containing 7000 individual stores, said it had suspended withdrawals from its unlisted property trusts, freezing almost $2 billion worth of investors funds (Condon, 2007). The share price of Centro Properties Group is $ 0.46 as at 11 April 2008, with 0% change since the previous day (Centro, 2008), as shown in appendix 5. The share price had dropped significantly; causing great loss to investors and today, it is on the surge of bankruptcy. 4 Conclusion In conclusion, if the housing price continues to decline, many more banks and companies will face bankruptcies. Economic growth will also slow down due to credit crunch, thus many of the worlds central bank will cut off interest rate in an attempt to counter the credit squeeze. Prices of stocks will continue to decline, as people will not invest their money in high-risk financial market. Banks will increase rules and regulations in lending requirement, thus making it hard for prime borrowers to make a loan. Banks in order to lessen the default risks faced when providing loans will impose higher interest rate loan to borrowers. As Australia is not greatly exposed to the effect of the sub-prime crisis, the economic growth will not be much affected. In fact, domestic investments in Australia will rise, as foreign investors will see that investing in Australia more attractive, compared to the US. In the long run, will appreciate the rate of Australian dollar in respect to other foreign c urrency.

Lines of Longitude in Geography

Lines of Longitude in Geography Longitude is the angular distance of any point on Earth measured east or west of a point on Earths surface. Where Is Zero Degrees Longitude? Unlike latitude, there is no easy point of reference such as the equator to be designated as zero degrees in the longitude system. To avoid confusion, the worlds nations have agreed that the Prime Meridian, which passes through the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England, will serve as that reference point and be designated as zero degrees. Because of this designation, longitude is measured in degrees west or east of the Prime Meridian. For example, 30Â °E, the line passing through eastern Africa, is an angular distance of 30Â ° east of the Prime Meridian. 30Â °W, which is in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, is an angular distance of 30Â ° west of the Prime Meridian. There are 180 degrees east of the Prime Meridian and coordinates are sometimes given without the designation of E or east. When this is used, a positive value represents coordinates east of the Prime Meridian. There are also 180 degrees west of the Prime Meridian and when W or west is omitted in a coordinate a negative value such as -30Â ° represents coordinates west of the Prime Meridian. The 180Â ° line is neither east nor west and approximates the International Date Line. On a map (diagram), lines of longitude are the vertical lines running from the North Pole to the South Pole and are perpendicular to lines of latitude. Every line of longitude also crosses the equator. Because longitude lines are not parallel, they are known as meridians. Like parallels, meridians name the specific line and indicate the distance east or west of a 0Â ° line. Meridians converge at the poles and are farthest apart at the equator (about 69 miles (111 km) apart). Development and History of Longitude For centuries, mariners and explorers worked to determine their longitude in an effort to make navigation easier. Latitude was determined easily by observing the inclination of the sun or the position of known stars in the sky and calculating the angular distance from the horizon to them. Longitude could not be determined in this way because Earths rotation constantly changes the position of stars and the sun. The first person to offer a method for measuring longitude was the explorer Amerigo Vespucci. In the late 1400s, he began measuring and comparing the positions of the moon and Mars with their predicted positions over several nights at the same time (diagram). In his measurements, Vespucci calculated the angle between his location, the moon, and Mars. By doing this, Vespucci got a rough estimate of longitude. This method did not become widely used however because it relied on a specific astronomical event. Observers also needed to know the specific time and measure the moon and Mars positions on a stable viewing platform- both of which were difficult to do at sea. In the early 1600s, a new idea to measure longitude was developed when Galileo determined that it could be measured with two clocks. He said that any point on Earth took 24 hours to travel the full 360Â ° rotation of Earth. He found that if you divide 360Â ° by 24 hours, you find that a point on Earth travels 15Â ° of longitude every hour. Therefore, with an accurate clock at sea, a comparison of two clocks would determine longitude. One clock would be at the home port and the other on the ship. The clock on the ship would need to be reset to local noon each day. The time difference would then indicate the longitudinal difference traveled as one hour represented a 15Â ° change in longitude. Shortly thereafter, there were several attempts to make a clock that could accurately tell time on the unstable deck of a ship. In 1728, clockmaker John Harrison began working on the problem and in 1760, he produced the first marine chronometer called Number 4. In 1761, the chronometer was tested and determined to be accurate, officially making it possible to measure longitude on land and at sea. Measuring Longitude Today Today, longitude is more accurately measured with atomic clocks and satellites. The Earth is still divided equally into 360Â ° of longitude with 180Â ° being east of the Prime Meridian and 180Â ° west. Longitudinal coordinates are divided into degrees, minutes and seconds with 60 minutes making up a degree and 60 seconds comprising a minute. For example, Beijing, Chinas longitude is 116Â °2330E. The 116Â ° indicates that it lies near the 116th meridian while the minutes and seconds indicate just how close it is to that line. The E indicates that it is that distance east of the Prime Meridian. Although less common, longitude can also be written in decimal degrees. Beijings location in this format is 116.391Â °. In addition to the Prime Meridian, which is the 0Â ° mark in todays longitudinal system, the International Date Line is also an important marker. It is the 180Â ° meridian on the opposite side of the Earth and is where the eastern and western hemispheres meet. It also marks the place where each day officially begins. At the International Date Line, the west side of the line is always one day ahead of the east side, no matter what time of day it is when the line is crossed. This is because the Earth rotates east on its axis. Longitude and Latitude Lines of longitude or meridians are the vertical lines running from the South Pole to the North Pole. Lines of latitude or parallels are the horizontal lines running from the west to the east. The two cross each other at perpendicular angles and when combined as a set of coordinates they are extremely accurate in locating places on the globe. They are so accurate that they can locate cities and even buildings to within inches. For example, the Taj Mahal, located in Agra, India, has a coordinate set of 27Â °1029N, 78Â °232E. To view the longitude and latitude of other places, visit the collection of Locate Places Worldwide resources on this site.

Learning outcomes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Learning outcomes - Essay Example Link lifestyle and what is happening) In a decade’s time (1991-2001), the diagnosis of self-reported diabetes increased 61% in the US (Mokdad et al, 2003) including a startling increase from 1990 to 1998 among people in their 30s (Mokdad et al, 2000). Accounting for roughly 95% of all diabetes, type 2 diabetes is associated with obesity and weight gain (Mokdad et al, 2001), which is also increased over the same time period. One projection is that the 11 million residents that have been diagnosed with diabetes will increase to 29 million in 2050 (Boyle et al, 2001). The escalating prevalence of type 2 diabetes portends serious consequences for the quality of life of those affected and their families and communities. To stem the rising tide of diabetes, public health policies need to move upstream toward prevention or at least delay in the onset of type 2 diabetes. A number of scientific studies offer scientific evidence and new hope for curtailing the epidemic of type 2 diabetes with support for intensive lifestyle modification and modest weight loss as effective interventions among adults at high risk for developing type 2 diabetes (Diabetes Program Research Group, n.d.; Pan et al, 1997; Tuomilchto et al, 2001). The transitional state in the natural history of diabetes when impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), impaired fasting glucose, or both are present has recently become known as â€Å"pre-diabetes† which affects 12 million overweight Americans between the aged 45-74 years (Benjamin et al, 2003), also raising their risk for cardiovascular disease (American Diabetes Association, 2002). Detection of pre-diabetes is not a goal for most diabetes screening programs (Rolka et al, 2001), but the lengthy development period diabetes, coupled with the potential to prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes, offers an opportunity for multifaceted prevention efforts. Distinct preventive medicine strategies have been presented by Rose (1985) as follows: 1) the

Voluntary Disclosures and Accounting Theories Essay

Voluntary Disclosures and Accounting Theories - Essay Example Accounting principles are based upon some principles and one of the important principles of accounting is full disclosure principle. As per the full disclosure principles the companies must disclose all the relevant information about the company like the financial statements, accounting policies followed, additional information etc. Apart from the various mandatory disclosures many companies discloses many voluntary information like sustainability report, cost of training employees etc. All these activities add value to the organisation and thus are important for the stakeholders to take an informed investment decision. Voluntary disclosures and accounting theories The concept of voluntary disclosers originates from a variety of accounting theories. Therefore the relevant accounting theories have been studied in order to understand the need of voluntary disclosure of information. The need of voluntary disclosure originated from the two basic theories namely normative theory and posit ive theory. Normative theories: The basic premise behind the normative accounting theories is the subjective opinion which tells one what is good and what should be done. This is an opinion based theory which is based on the standards. This theory is aimed at helping the accountants to decide on the things which should be done and the making them aware on the various aspects which can be used to compensating and rectifying any error which is not suitable as per their judgement (Banerjee, 2010, p.1223). The two disclosures which are normally done as per this theory are the disclosure of the intangibles and the disclosers regarding the corporate social responsibilities. As it has been discussed that the normative theory states that accountants should judge between the acts which should be done therefore the disclosers regarding the corporate social responsibilities is a way of informing the stakeholders that the matters which are opinion based have been taken care off. The normative t heories are based on certain assumptions which set up standard for doing an activity and it is assumed that the organisation will perform that activity is that way only. As per the concept of normative theory the organisation should have some unique way of recording and treating a transaction or performing any activity and that activity should be done as per the laid down standard. The accounting policies are based on these theories but to some extent all the assumption and every aspect of the normative theory is not followed by the organisation like the organisation do not follow a unique and single set of policy to records its assets for indefinite point of time. Like IAS 38 prescribes the rules and methods which have to be followed while recognising and measuring the intangibles assets (Deloitte, 2011). Positive theories: The positive theories are very different from that of the normative theory. Some of the important positive theories are positive accounting theory, legitimacy t heory, stakeholder theory and institutional theory. The basic premise of the positive accounting theory is explaining and predicting the accounting practices which can be actually followed by the accountants. Thus the nature of positive accounting theory is descriptive rather than subjective. The normative view of accounting is opinion based which tell what the accountants should do rather than predicting what actually can be done.