Construction project

Grant the Great Construction is a small construction company formed from the merger of Grant Thomas Construction &Right Build International. The company has successfully operated in the Durham North Carolina area for the past ten years working on both small and large scale construction, repair, and alteration projects. With the business boom that is occurring in Greensboro and the desire to improve overall profit margins, the company is planning to shift its target market from residential clients to the larger commercial customers. This business plan will lay out our goals and tasks to make this transition successful.Grant the Great Construction strives to offer the finest quality design, site preparation, cost estimates, construction, repair, and alteration to clients needing large scale construction services. History & Purpose working on both small and large scale construction, repair, and alteration projects.. Grant the Great Construction strives to offer the finest quality design , site preparation, cost estimates, construction, repair, and alteration to clients needing large scale construction services. Strengths Grant the Great Construction is a Design Build Firm. By being both owners to both esign the project and to construct the project.In some cases, the design is done in- house, but most often the Design-Builder engages the services of an outside architect as well as all of the subcontractors. As stated above, the intended result is that the project can be done more quickly because the construction can begin earlier in the process, even before the details are finalized. Weaknesses Being that Grant the Great Construction was built by merging two existing companies , there are different practices that each company has grown accustom to. Many of these differences can be overcome with proper advance planning and team eetings.We plan on building our company off the most successful practices of each company. Mission: Grant the Great Construction is dedicated to raising the levels of professionalism, integrity, ethical practice, and performance within the construction industry. Goal: 1. Establishing a strong and sustainable internal structure. 2. Developing a body of work and establishing a positive reputation. Strategy: As a new construction company we will invest in a model home and extensive packages of plans and images that clients can use to better understand what they're aying for when they contract with Grant the Great Construction.Marketing Internet promotion method is the key to our success: We plan to market ourselves by emphasizing our name and unique solutions through internet promotion. An amount of $10,000 for the style of the web page has been included in the Start-up expenses with ongoing maintenance expenses approximated monthly. Our Focus is commercial building and renovation tasks as our initial and primary focus on marketplaces. We will use our completed tasks to display our personalized venture management software t o potential clients. Organizational Plan

Animals’ Roles in The Wars Essay

Written by Timothy Findley in 1977, The Wars is a novel that explores the theme of young human life under the pressing concerns during the war, specifically the First World War, seeing the world of soldiers turn into a world of violence, and how these soldiers have turned into brutes themselves. The character of Robert Ross, a nineteen year-old Canadian officer and whose life is narrated mostly from the third-person point of view, is revealed as a character that has a concern for animals—thus prompting Ross to save the horses which cost him his life in the end—amidst the brutal turn of events where death was almost certain in the killing fields. The birds, coyote and rabbits also symbolize certain events in the story.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Soldiers are typically known to be highly sensitive of their surroundings when in the fields for they cannot exactly pinpoint where and when combat might ensue or from what direction the enemy might be coming from. This is perhaps one of the reasons why Ross was able to notice the chirping of the birds while he and the rest of the soldiers were out in the war. Ross was able to take notice of the fact that each time the birds stopped singing, an attack from the enemy soon takes place. Perhaps it was mere coincidence, although one can strongly tie that event with the attacks that followed thereafter as birds are familiar with their environment more than the soldiers; slight changes in their environment, especially changes which have a lot to do with probable dangers; cause the birds to fly away. Taken with the context of the encounters of Ross with the birds, it can be said that those birds served as warning signs for the young soldier. Whenever the birds stopped singing, it is almost certain that Ross is about to encounter danger along the way. â€Å"The birds, being gone, had taken some mysterious presence with them (p. 81),† showing how the sudden absence of these birds felt rather unusual, as if to signal something bad is about to happen.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It is unusual as well for man and beast to have a close relationship, especially when the animal is known to be a hunter and can be a threat to the security of man. But more than that, any relationship between man and beast can mean simple companionship to a deep friendship. As far as Ross and the coyote are concerned, it can be said that the animal accompanied the young soldier to a certain extent in the story. â€Å"One night, Robert ran with a coyote (p. 25)† and when the men were out for a drink the coyote also â€Å"drunk at the brink (p. 27)† of the water â€Å"and suddenly sat (p. 28).† An observation of these rather unusual events would tell us that the coyote acted as if it was a member of the soldiers. This is interesting as it presents a revealing irony one can not easily notice; soldiers in the war, as Ross himself has observed, are violent men who are more like beasts who wielded weapons to kill. With the presence of the coyote among the group, it can be said that they, too, were much like the coyote. The soldiers, in fact, â€Å"gathered like whispering conspirators around the edges of a bright sheet of water (p. 27),† a sly trait typical to that of coyotes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   While coyotes symbolize how men in the war have turned into beasts, rabbits on the other hand serve as reminders for Ross to treat animals in general with respect as if they were human beings. On one occasion, Ross was hesitant to kill the rabbits as ordered by his estranged mother, Mrs. Ross, shortly after the death of Rowena, Robert’s older sister, since they gave him memories about his older sister and since Rowena owned those rabbits. â€Å"Rabbits had to die, and Robert had to do it (p. 18),† which presents one conflict in the novel—the conflict between the command to destroy the animals which pin back memories and the apparent weakness of the main protagonist to kill even animals. It can be said that if Ross decides to kill the rabbits, it was like as if he has killed the memories of Rowena. If he decides not to kill them, it proves that he is unable to even wield a weapon against these small animals, which is of course not a good sign for someone who would enlist in the army during the war. It also shows how Ross was more human than anybody else in the story, especially his estranged mother and the rest of the soldiers in his group. His inclination to preserve whatever memory remains from the departed tells us that Ross is not keen to destroy, or that he is not a natural â€Å"destroyer† of animal life which, ironically, cost him his life as he tried to save some of the Army horses after killing two of his fellow soldiers.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The point where Ross tries to save the Army horses was also the time when he finally turned to madness and prompted him to kill the lives of his fellowmen. Apparently, it is a contrast which tells us that insanity can push a person to kill other people yet care for beasts. That is because Ross himself has finally become a beast near the end of the story and, thus, he is now more than inclined to save his own kind rather than protect and preserve the life of other men. He is no longer the same man at the start of the story who was afraid to kill. This transformation can be attributed to the onslaught of the war, which seemed to have absorbed Robert right into it. As he was now unable to rise above the madness of the war, Robert Ross eventually turned quite like the rest of the army, willing to kill and die just so to save other lives although this time he saved the lives of horses.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The animals in the story offer an interesting insight into some important events in the novel, especially in terms of how the life of the protagonist, Robert Ross, always hanged in the balance of making crucial decisions. In general, the story is able to reveal how the lives of soldiers always deal with certain conflicts individually and together as a group. Findley’s novel is also able to show how young minds of young individuals tend to fold under pressing moments in their lives. Reference Findley, T. (1996). The Wars. Penguin: Canada.

Comparison of Setting in Hamlet and Trifles

William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet written in 1600 is about the protagonist Hamlet, prince of Denmark who is grieving after the loss of his father, King Hamlet. The ghost of his father visits young Hamlet and orders him to seek revenge on his uncle Claudius, the man who seized his throne and married his widowed wife. Trifles, a play by Susan Glaspell written in 1916, is a play about the search for evidence of the murder of Mr. Wright. The entire play takes place in the Wright’s kitchen in which two women, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters discover that the murderer was none other than his wife Minnie Wright. Both of these plays consist of similar themes such as grief, memory of loved ones, death and murder. This paper will argue that how the setting of the graveyard in Hamlet and the setting of the kitchen in Trifles contribute to the characters and themes in each play. Specifically, it will look at examples from Hamlet and Trifles and show how memory and grief pertain to both Hamlet and Mrs. Wright with contribution from each of the settings. Although Mrs. Wright may be the protagonist of the play, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters are almost as significant. All three women had dominating husbands who expected their women to carry out house chores, take care of the farm and raise their children; what was expected of a woman in that era. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters accepted their roles as women, and carried out their duties as expected. Mrs. Wright on the other hand was unhappy in her home and with her life, and from Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters comments about her dreariness we learn that it is more likely she murdered her husband. For example, Mrs. Hale talks about how she was 30 years ago, â€Å"She used to wear pretty clothes and be lively, when she was Minnie Foster, one of the town girls singing in the choir† (791). However, once she became Minnie Wright and was expected to be a wife, keep her house clean and do chores, she did not enjoy it and hence did not make an effort in it. This is all evident in the state her kitchen is in, as at that time a woman’s main pride was in the way she kept her kitchen. From the setting of the kitchen, we notice how grief is significantly present in the surroundings, which cause memories from Mrs. Wright’s past to be brought up. Due to the fact that the entire play takes place in this specific setting shows that even though Mrs. Wright is not present, she is s till the protagonist. The kitchen is cold, dirty, and very still which shows that a death has just occurred in this house. It adds to the tense atmosphere of the play. Evidence to support the fact that she murdered her husband is discovered by the two women, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters in this very kitchen. This shows that Mrs. Wright spent most of her time in the kitchen, as she was expected to as a housewife, and evidently did not enjoy it. Likewise, from the play we discover that the kitchen was dirty, messy and not taken care of. For example, the county attorney points this out by exclaiming â€Å"Dirty towels! Not much of a housekeeper, would you say, ladies? † (790). As the play goes on the women then discover Mrs. Wright’s most recent disheveled knitting. Both these examples from the setting of the kitchen show us that Mrs. Wright was in a nervous state of mind, and significantly distracted in the days leading up to the murder of her husband. Finally, the most prominent event in the play is the discovery of the dead bird amongst her sewing things, which is the main evidence that Mrs. Wright did murder her husband. Upon discovering this evidence however, both the women choose to keep it to themselves, in order to protect one of their own. The narration of the memory of Minnie Foster creates a sense of grief for the women towards Mrs. Wright and what she was going through. It is tragic because Mrs. Wright transformed from a happy, choir singing, jolly independent woman, to a quiet housewife who knits and keeps to herself most of the time. For example, Mrs. Hale compares her to a bird to describe her character thirty years ago when she says â€Å"- come to think of it, she was kind of like a bird herself – real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and – fluttery. How – she – did – change† (795). All this talk of who Mrs. Wright used to before she got married shows the audience what kind of woman she used to be, to what she had become. They also discuss how Mr. Wright was a hard man, and the thought of spending the day with him was horrifying. These memories of the Wright couple as individuals result in the women grieving for Mrs. Wright. This is a possible reason why they kept the evidence a secret from the sheriff and county attorney. They understand Mrs. Wright’s state of mind, and what she was going through and hence wanted to protect her as she had enough courage to act upon her misery. Although there has been a death, their grieving is for a different reason: one tha t only a woman can understand. Similarly, the setting of the graveyard in Hamlet represents the idea of death, sorrow, and grief. It is a cold place, dark at night and very quiet and one is surrounded by death. It is a prominent setting in Hamlet as it is the place in which Hamlet discovers through the ghost that it was his uncle who murdered his father. In addition it is where he finds out that his one true love Ophelia has committed suicide. He has discovered that he has lost two of the most loved people in his life. For example, in Act 1 Scene 5 the ghost says, â€Å"The serpent that did sting thy father’s life, Now wears his crown† (968). Also, when Hamlet discovers that it is Ophelia who has died, he comes forward and confesses how much he had loved her â€Å"I lov’d Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers Could not with all their quantity love make up my sum† (1043). All this contributes to Hamlet’s distressed, suicidal character. He suffered significantly after the loss of important people in his life and became depressed due to this. Shakespeare’s plays main themes are revenge, grief, depression and death. The setting of the graveyard incorporates all these themes, more specifically memory and grief, hence the reason why it is a significant setting. As mentioned earlier, throughout the play Hamlet is grieving for numerous reasons. From the beginning of the play, it was for the loss of his father, and then in his first soliloquy he talks of how fast time is moving and how his mother has wedded so fast. As the play progresses, Hamlet learns from the ghost that his very own uncle murdered his father, and that the love of his life, Ophelia has committed suicide. Due to the fact that unfortunate events are recurring so close together, Hamlet’s state of mind is evident through his words, that he is suicidal. For example, in his first soliloquy in Act one scene two, he expresses â€Å"O that this too too sallied flesh would melt, Thaw, and resolve itself in a dew! Or that the Everlasting had not fix’d His canon ‘gainst [self-]slaughter! † (956). In this line, he wishes for his flesh to melt and that God had not made suicide a sin. His thoughts recur in his â€Å"To be or not to be† soliloquy. Hamlet discovers the skull of the Yorick, the old court jester from Hamlet’s childhoo d. Upon discovery of this skull, he is reminded of a fond memory from his childhood that is from so long ago, that he has forgotten how it feels. However, the discovery of this skull also makes Hamlet realize that no matter who you are, we will all die one day and return to dust. This memory makes Hamlet realize that he needs to come to terms with losses in his life, and take revenge for his father’s death. We have seen throughout this paper how the setting of the graveyard in Hamlet and the setting of the kitchen in Trifles have contributed to the characters and themes of each play. It specifically looked at how memory and grief pertain to the characters and themes. Examples from Hamlet have shown the theme of grief, and depression of the play due to the loss of loved ones. The graveyard emphasizes these themes, as well as Hamlet’s character and his actions due to his unsettled state of mind. The memory of his father causes him to grieve to a further extent, however with the memory of Yorick he realizes that even Alexander the Great, and Julius Caesar all returned to dust eventually. The kitchen in cold, dirty kitchen of Trifles represents Mrs. Wright’s state of mind leading up to the murder of her husband. Also, the memory of Minnie Foster narrated by Mrs. Hale shows how drastically her character transitioned. The women grieve for the fact that she had to take such drastic measures to claim her freedom, and hence hide their discovery of the bird.

The role of culture learning and teaching in foeign language education Literature review

The role of culture learning and teaching in foeign language education - Literature review Example des about the target culture and target language and the motivation of new learners to become integrative learners of the language, and how positive attitudes towards the target culture help these new learners overcome anxiety about learning the language. The final section is a conclusion, in which the concepts that are put forth are put into context in the situation at hand. 2.2 The Role of Culture in Foreign Language Education According to Pica (1994), there is a question as to how necessary cultural integration is to learning a foreign language, and that this is question that troubles foreign language teachers, whether the foreign language teacher is teaching students that are far removed from the target language or is teaching in an area where the students have a chance to be immersed in the language (Pica, 1994). There are two camps when it comes to teaching foreign languages - one camp believes that foreign language teaching should emphasize only communication competence, while the other camp believes that foreign language teaching should incorporate the culture of the target language, which would include the literature of the target language (Shanahan, 1997, p. 164). The first camp is only concerned with semantics – for them, learning a language is nothing but drills, and language is nothing but rules, strings of sentences, and prepositions (Thanasoulas, 2001). The learner must see morphological or syntactical pattern, practice it and learn it without regard to culture or context (Waltz, 1989, p. 160). The second camp believes that language has an intuitive component that can only be acquired by learning the culture of the target country. Language is learned in context (Wendt, 2003, p. 92). On the one end are individuals who feel that students must communicate... One school of thought states that the only necessary education that new learners of a language need is semantics and how to string together sentences. For them, culture is not necessary to learn. The other school of thought says that cultural education regarding the target country is crucial, as it puts the language in context and helps the new learner know the different subtleties that are necessary to be a competent speaker. Learning a foreign language cannot force the learner into a vacuum where context and culture do not matter. It is only through learning the nuances of speech can a speaker become a competent speaker, and it is only through knowing the culture of the target country can this occur. A good example is the individual who used the word tu when he should have used the word vous. This is only one example, but one can imagine how many mistakes a speaker will make if he is not aware of context and culture. Because culture is so important to learning Spanish, this is some thing that will be emphasized in the Spanish classroom that I teach. Teaching knowledge about the culture will be relatively easy. Cooking Spanish food, teaching about Spanish holidays, teaching about the religion of Spain, teaching the Spanish painter, writers and other cultural icons, teaching the history of Spain, etc., will all be integral to teaching about Spanish culture. This would also include showing television shows from Spain, showing movies, including dramas and comedies, will be important as well.

Operational Management Business Plan of a Special Event Essay

Operational Management Business Plan of a Special Event - Essay Example Siegel (2009, Pg. 21) says that this domain constitutes an important and critical part of business that governs the efficiency and quality with which products are manufactured or services are provided and involves numerous human intensive procedures. In fact, operations management also encompasses the effective distribution and supply of goods to customers. The history of operations management can be traced back to the Second World War when various researchers undertook complex studies to understand the various basic processes that influenced the course of army operations such as logistics, troop movement, supply routes etc (Pycraft, 2009, Pg. 43). This extensive focus on analyzing the pattern of military operations led to the evolution of military systems and provided the much needed insight into understand multilateral and interdisciplinary process that constitute the field of operations research. The discipline of operations research thus encompasses various scientific domains and depends on solutions like statistics, modeling and structured algorithms to provide some useful answers to complex problems that pertain to various business processes and operations within an organization. In this context, operations research does not rely much on considering the exact nature or area of specialization of the organization. According to McMahon (2007, Pg. 87), the sole purpose of employing operations research methods is to determine a scientific answer to a given complex scenario that can enhance the performance of the company and thus requires the collaboration of experts from several disciplines to understand the problem from a quantitative perspective. Thus, operations research provides numerous tools, methods and procedures that help solve many issues pertaining to operations management (Wagen, 2009, Pg. 63). Operations management is also influenced by industrial engineering that helps understand a given problem area from an engineering perspective and develop re quisite solutions. The current paper describes the usefulness of operations management in organizing special events like seminars and conferences. Various issues pertaining to event management like planning, purchasing, inventory management, logistics, budgeting and quality will be considered when describing the applicability of operations management to this particular business area. The manner in which different components work together in organizing a successful event and the role of operations management in reducing costs and ensuring profitability has been highlighted. Specifically, the paper discusses the usefulness of operations management in organizing a networking event for reputed firms such as an investment bank. Investment banks regularly organize such events to interact with potential customers, forge new contacts with major players in different industries and strengthen relationships with existing customers. Typical attendees to these events included high profile repres entatives from several prominent companies operating in various industries. Role of operations management in organizing events A networking event, such as the one discussed in this paper, is not just a luxurious business party, but is in fact an important marketing exercise for investment banks that is aimed at promoting their services through personal interaction with potential clients. While the event has to display the reputation and prominence of the investment bank, the primary goal of the event

Acids' Alkalis and PH Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Acids' Alkalis and PH - Term Paper Example Cl2(aq) + H2O(l) Cl-(aq) + HOCl(aq) + H+(aq) When a dilute solution of NaOH is added to an aqueous solution of chlorine, the OH- ions will react with the H+ ions (strong acid-base reaction). This will lead to a decrease in the concentration of H+(aq). According to Le Chatelier's principle, the reaction will shift to the side that opposes this change. This means that the reaction will shift to the right. (d) the temperature of an equilibrium mixture of 1 (d) is decreased 3Fe(s) + 4H2O(g) Fe3O4(s) + 4H2(g) H = - 149 kJ mol-1 The reaction is exothermic. According to Le Chatelier's principle, a decrease in the temperature of the equilibrium mixture causes the reaction to shift to the side that opposes that change. This entails that the reaction will shift to the right. 8 marks 3. Sulphur dioxide and oxygen were allowed to reach equilibrium at 450oC in a vessel of volume 1 dm3. 2SO2(g) + O2(g) 2SO3(g) The equilibrium mixture was found to contain 2 moles of sulphur trioxide, 0.5 moles of sulphur dioxide and 0.25 moles of oxygen. (a) Write an expression for Kc including units. [SO3 (g)]2 Kc = mol-1 dm3 [SO2(g)]2 [O2(g)] (b) Calculate Kc at 450oC. 22 Kc = = 64 mol-1 dm3 0.52 x 0.25 (c) What effect would adding a catalyst have on the position of equilibrium Adding a catalyst to the above reaction causes the forward and reverse reaction rate constants to be increased by the same amount. This means that equilibrium will be reached more quickly but will...This will lead to a decrease in the concentration of H+(aq). According to Le Chatelier's principle, the reaction will shift to the side that opposes this change. This means that the reaction will shift to the right. The reaction is exothermic. According to Le Chatelier's principle, a decrease in the temperature of the equilibrium mixture causes the reaction to shift to the side that opposes that change. This entails that the reaction will shift to the right. Adding a catalyst to the above reaction causes the forward and reverse reaction rate constants to be increased by the same amount. This means that equilibrium will be reached more quickly but will have no effect of the position of equilibrium (Brown, LeMay and Bursten, 1991). Kc is the ratio of the forward and reverse reaction rate constants. As seen above, the catalyst will increase these reaction rates by the same amount. There will hence be no change in the value of Kc (Brown, LeMay and Bursten, 1991). When ammonia is dissolved in water, it accepts H+.

Research Critique - Dapagliflozin Trials Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Critique - Dapagliflozin Trials - Research Paper Example This paper reviews various aspects of a medical trial study carried out in Japan. The critique evaluates issues of human protection, data collection, analyses and management as well as the final findings. The study by Boulton et al. (2011) highlights the comparative use of dapagliflozin on two treatment groups consisting of diabetics with type II diabetes (T2DM) and healthy subjects. The research paper was published in the fourth issue of the Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism Journal in 2011. The main objective of the research was to investigate the tolerability and safety of dapagliflozin in the Japanese participants. Evaluated aspects included the pharmacodynamics (PD) and pharmacokinetics (PK) of the drug on both treatment groups. Protection of Human Participants The implicitly implied benefits of this research included the ability to determine the tolerability and safety of the drug for Japanese subjects, and thus offer a reliable, non-insulin dependent therapeutic option for T2DM management. This would be beneficial because it would save patients with T2DM from regular insulin injections and costs if it would be established as an efficient mono-therapy option or improving add-on to other diabetic therapies. The authors of the research recognized drug allergy as a potential risk and possible aggravation of cardiovascular and diabetic ketoacidocis. As such, precautionary measures were taken to exclude subjects with such conditions or a history of such conditions. In addition to the highlighted benefits, the researchers failed to note that dapagliflozin’s effectiveness does not depend on the dysfunction severity of beta cells. Unlike most other therapies, its effectiveness will not decrease with beta cell failure advancement or with higher severity of insulin resistance. This would be a major benefit in the T2DM therapy. Additionally, they also failed to identify other risks such as possible aggravation of polyuria, which may results from the diuretic e ffect of dapagliflozin. The research was conducted after acquisition of informed consent from subjects as stated within the material and methods section, and as such it is expected that all participants consented to participation after full information. The research process and procedures adhered to GCP (â€Å"Good Clinical Practice†), and â€Å"Japanese Pharmaceutical Affairs Law† both of which define standards of clinical pharmaceutical trials (Boulton et al. 2011). The adherence to these standards as asserted within the paper implies that indeed the participants must have voluntarily accepted participation in the study. This is because voluntary participation is one of the stipulations under these standards, and adherence confirms willing participation. As part of ensuring adherence the researchers also sought approval from the local ethics committee/ IRB (â€Å"Institutional Review Board†). From these facts it can be inferred that ethical, procedural adheren ce was upheld as required in any drug trial cases. Data Collection Data collection in the study was done through the bio-analytical

Housing Policy and Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Housing Policy and Strategy - Essay Example How do agenda become policies The two terms, which are often confused, need to be clarified. These are the agenda setting and problem definition. Agenda setting is bringing issues to active consideration by the government (Cobb and Ross 1997 as cited in Dery 2000 ) while problem definition is what issues are selected for agenda setting (Rochefort and Cobb, 1994 as cited in Dery 2000). Weiss (1989 as cited in Dery 2000) clarifies this hazy boundary between agenda setting and problem definition by stating that problem is defined as how people perceive a circumstance while agenda setting is process by which some problems come to public attention at a given time and place. In the past the policies were based on a general approach. During the past two decades , however, policies are outcome of creative inputs from local authorities, housing associations and lenders. The government is also required to play role in supporting and sustaining rather than directing and controlling. The implementers in UK judge an idea on pilot scale prior to changing it into a policy. (Williams & Holmans 1997). The UK policy making has undergone further change. The evidence based policy has taken over, to some extent, the earlier opinion based policymaking. Now the hard data, thoroughly analysed on statistical and economic scales, are central to a policy (Defra 2008). The development of a policy can be explained by technocratic or political model (Majone 1989). In the former, the policy develops or changes as per the preferences (or opinion) of policy makers . In the political model, the agenda setting occurs when the public support is gained for an issue. (Cobb & Elder, 1983; Kingdon, 1984; Baumgartner & Jones, 1993 as cited in Dery 2000). Several ideas generated by policy analysts, researchers, and others have become trends as these have been integrated into thinking and policy making (Basolo 2003). Evaluation of a policy brings necessary changes, if required. For e.g. many public housing developments, especially in cities, were originally designed and built to accommodate large numbers of households. The problems to residents in such houses brought attention to the design of public housing developments. It was also realised that the return of policy responsibilities to state and local governments from the central government would offer more suitable policy framing to the local needs.The ill effects of the concentration of poverty developed as observed by public officials and policy scholars. The minorities and poor were shifted to white areas. It is an example where significant amount of public policy attention is aimed at reducing the concentration of poverty (Goetz, 2000 as cited in Basolo 2003). Beland (2005) refers (Lieberman 2002) that while framing or changing a policy equal importance to ideas and institutions should be given. He thinks ideas are 'roadmap' to framing a policy. The pioneer in agenda setting study, Kingdon (1995) states that agenda could be defined as the most aggravated problem of the moment and alternative as policy options capable of solving it. He further elaborates that agenda and policy options arise by the interaction of three elements viz. Problem, policy and politics. The social groups and politicians to mobilize system in favour of a specific issue use these three elements. The

Sales & Sales Management in this current climate Assignment

Sales & Sales Management in this current climate - Assignment Example Internationally, the profitability of the traditional banking activities has been declining on the past few years. This has been accompanied with massive growth in the financial market owing to globalization of the market, increasing innovation and technology, abundance of new financial products and adoption of enhanced risk management strategies. These developments have enabled the international financial industry to experience immense growth even in the face of decline in the traditional services profits. The Bank of Ireland Finance (BIF) offers various finance packages for its clients. The introduction of the motor finance service by the bank has greatly contributed to its growth. This product is not regulated by the central bank policies allowing for the bank to be flexible. The Irish economy has experienced tremendous growth for the past 15 years. This has created an opportunity for the banking industry to offer improved services and products to the market. The motor finance service is a product by the bank that lends money to their clients to pay for their motor vehicles. This product offers the client the advantage of acquiring the vehicle without liquid cash. They are thus able to repay the loan in installments at an interest. The innovation of such services has lead to the development and growth of the banking industry in Ireland. The banking industry has undergone tremendous growth with the globalization of the market. The formation of the European Union market for the banking sector has increased competition in the market. Furthermore, other lending firms in Ireland have come up increasing the competition facing the bank of Ireland. The increased competition is accompanied by a change in the consumer needs. This has prompted the banks to offer other services in order to retain it market position (Best, 2012). However, this industry has been facing various challenges facing some of the

University of chichester Essay Example for Free

University of chichester Essay From 1976 to 1991, UK has witnessed major changes in its education system. Since early 90s, changes would include transformation in its structure, essential nature and even purpose. The driving force behind this is legislation and national funding policies which brought about sociological and epistemological change. (Skinner 2006) For instance, the British Council – the international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities of the United Kingdom – has been an important agent of this transformation as it promotes UK education in over 100 countries where it has an established presence. With the increase influx of international students, a study of this topic would inevitably help develop a more effective marketing scheme for UK as essential market intelligence can be derived from such study, helping higher education administrators improve their standards which is hoped to attract and even more number of international students. The long-term goal of this paper is to provide important information which could help establishing the UK as the premier international education provider. 2. 1 Background of the Study Approximately ? 5 billion annually is contributed by International students to the economy of the United Kingdom. (Department for Children, Schools, and Families 2006) In line with this, Tony Blair, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom launched a campaign to encourage more international students to study in UK. He also sought building partnerships between universities and colleges in the UK with those abroad. The campaign, the Prime Ministers International Education Initiative (PMI) is based on its phase 1 implemented between the 1999 and 2005 where a unified effort in the promotion of UK education overseas was undertaken. In this next phase, a wider international agenda is expected to be address and and increased funding from the Government, the British Council and the education sector is expected. (Department for Children, Schools, and Families 2007) In view of this, data gathered from this study can be used, among others, in achieving these goals set by the Prime Minister. Although the University of Chichester is just one of the universities in the region, principles derived from the findings in this study can be adopted to suit local conditions in other universities and colleges. In this way, it is hoped that findings from this study can help not only the education sector but also the economy of the nation as whole since having more international students translates to more funds for the economy as reported earlier in this section. 2. 2 Objectives This paper aims to provide insights on why students come to the University of Chichester. This is achieved by investigating the current performance of the university from the point of view of the studentry, reviewing its current approach to international education, and proposing recommendations to improve its education program for the international students with emphasis given to sustainability of success. This paper would focus on providing insights as to why students come to the University of Chichester. In order to to this qualitative and quantitative research methodologies would be used. The qualitative aspect of this research would focus mainly on the review of related literature but would also include findings from some of informal interviews conducted. The qualitative aspect, on the other hand, would deal with drawing out insights from currently enrolled international students at the University of Chichester. Both the results of the qualitative and quantitative methods would be considered together to validate each other so that reasonable conclusions can be made and feasible recommendations can be formulated. 2. 4 Limitations The literature review would primarily focus on the policy of the United Kingdom regarding encouraging international students to attend UK universities as well the environmental and internal context of the University of Chichester. A working definition of international education and international students would be developed and the entire paper would hinge only on these definitions. For instance, when in the later chapter, an international student is said to be interviewed, it is understood that this international student met all the qualifications described in the working definition of an international student. Also, the findings, conclusions and recommendations for this paper, although was aimed to be usable to other universities so that the goals of the second phase PMI may be achieved, are all in the context of the University of Chichester. Therefore, attempts to apply this to other universities necessitates contextualization.

Malaysia Household Income And Expenditure Trends Economics Essay

Malaysia Household Income And Expenditure Trends Economics Essay This section will discuss the background of the study, which explained the economic activities and economic growth by sector and by employment share, Malaysia household income and expenditure trends. This study also mentioned the concept of sustainable development and growth. This study chooses energy consumption in order to identify the factor of environment. From energy consumption, this study will observe the effect of energy consumption on environment. Next, the problem statement will cover the issues and objective, significant, scope and limitation of the study. Background of the study Malaysia is the third wealthiest country in Southeast Asia after Singapore and Brunei Darussalam based on GDP at purchasing power parity (PPP) per capita are shown in Table 1.1. It had a population of around 26 million people in 2007. According to the United Nations Development Programme, the population of Malaysia is estimated to grow to 29.8 millions by the year 2020. Most Malaysian is active economically and independently. The start of a sustainable recovery cycle was seen in 2002 but the activity slackened in 2005: GDP growth rate was 7.2% in 2004 and 5.2% in 2005 as shown in Table 1.2. Domestic demand and export dynamism are two major growth factors. Malaysia is characterized by its economys large openness and favourable behaviour towards foreign investments. During the New Economic Policy 1971 1990, a number of policies could be identified to explain the pattern of income. The promotion of export-oriented industrialisation driven primarily by foreign direct investment has seen a need for labour, thus lowering unemployment and raising household incomes. The most dynamic activity sector is electronics, given that the country is one of the worlds major exporters of semi-conductors and electronic components in the 1990s. Table 1.1: Countries of Southeast Asia sorted by their gross domestic product (GDP) at purchasing power parity (PPP) per capita in US$ Southeast Asia Country Rank International Monetary Fund (2009)[+] World Bank (2008)[++] CIA World Factbook[+++] Singapore 1 50,523 49,321 50,300 Â  Brunei 2 49,110 50,100 Â  Malaysia 3 13,769 14,215 14,800 Â  Thailand 4 8,060 8,086 8,100 Â  Indonesia 5 4,157 3,994 4,000 Â  Philippines 6 3,521 3,513 3,300 Â  Vietnam 7 2,942 2,787 2,900 Â  Cambodia 8 2,015 1,951 1,900 Source: +Data refer to the year 2009. World Economic Outlook Database-April 2010, International Monetary Fund. ++Data refer to the year 2008. World Development Indicators database, World Bank.Note: Per capita values were obtained by dividing the PPP GDP data by the Population data. +++GDP per capita (PPP), The World Factbook 2010, Central Intelligence Agency. The economic activity has been much reliant on electrical and electronic sector and the country must find new growth-generating activities, especially in the face of the soaring competition between countries of this region. Besides, Malaysia is classified among the worlds largest producers in the agriculture sector, particularly of palm oil, cocoa and rubber. Table 1.2: Malaysias Economic Growth from 2006 to 2009 Economic Indicator 2006 2007 2008 2009(f) GDP $million 125,051 132,988 139,159 139,174 Growth of GDP % 6.0 6.0 5.0 -3.1 Inflation (CPI) % 4.0 2.0 5.0 1.1 Unemployment % 3.0 3.0 3.7 4.5 Foreign direct investment % of GDP 4.0 5.0 3.0 4 Export growth % 7.0 4.0 1.5 (16.6) Import growth % 9.0 5.0 2.2 (14.9) Current account balance $million 26,200 29,243 38,914 21,053 Sources: The World Bank, World Development Indicators 2010 for 2006-2008, Economic Planning Units Forecasting for 2009. The country is also the leading exporter of tropical woods. The United States, Singapore and Japan are Malaysias major trade partners. The country imports mainly manufactured products, machine tools and vehicles. Nevertheless the economic growth of Malaysia has wide implications for structural change in the economy (from agriculture sector to industrialisation), growth of employment opportunities increase in personal income and change in consumption pattern. It has also effected the environment through a variety of techniques such as pollution; natural resources overexpolitation; degradation and wildlife habitat disappeared, and changes in weather. The result of the larger consumption levels in the environmental problem as proven in the declining in the fisheries haul, increasing in threatehned and endangered flora and founa, destroyed of wilflife natural resources, polution and purposely exotic killing, (Khalid, 2007) Environmental policies usually take into consideration the value of natural resources in contributing to processes of biological particularly in controlling flood levels, climate change rules, production of oxygen and absorption of carbon dioxide in the open areas as well as protection of flora and fauna. Environmental degradation is not accurately measured by GDP because the economic growth of the nation depend on natural resources but the strength of the economy must include the condition and sustainability of natural resources. This situation is not happening in Malaysia but those concerned about the protection of wildlife believe good treatment needs to be given to the erosion impact of economic growth on wildlife. Recently, environmental concerns have grown among the community and society, policy maker and government through the sustainable development, despite environmental problem never won against the mega development project, for instance Bakun dam project. The main objectiv e among the developing countries is economic growth through the natural resources exploitation. 1.3 Overview of Malaysia economy Malaysia is the one of the developing countries have transformed itself from 1970s to 1990s from raw materials producer to the multi-sector economy particularly manufacturing and services sector. This transformation was induced by positive economy growth which almost exclusively driven by export of electrical and electronics components. Consequently, global economic crisis and the slump in the information technology (IT) sector in 2001 and 2002 have affected Malaysia economy. However, Malaysia economy grew 5.7 percent in 2003 despite at first half very difficult to sustain due to external pressures such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and the Iraq war to be concerned among business society. In 2004, growth peaked 7 percent and 5 percent in 2005-2006 and 4.6 percent in 2009. The economic growth thereafter was not as remarkable as before, though some recovery took place in 1987. This was the time when the manufacturing sector for intermediate goods started to expand, which subsequently drove the Malaysian economy forward. This established a new structural change from merely producing primary commodities to process manufacturing and advanced manufacturing, including electronic semiconductors and components of electrical products. In the middle of 1997, the economy faced another economic disaster, the Asian financial crisis that began in Thailand and later spread to all over the ASEAN countries including Malaysia. In fact the exchange rate badly affected most of the ASEAN countries. ASEAN countries had no other choice but to liquidate their current assets in order to offset their losses resulting from the currency devaluation. Slightly more than one year later, the Malaysian economy recovered. All these events have changed the structure of the Malaysian eco nomy to what it is today. It has become a tradition at the dawn of each decade to predict the path or direction and magnitude of economic growth within the context of the challenges and prospects for the next 10 years or more. The 1980s were an enormously difficult and turbulent decade for the global economy. In fact in the 1990s, though expected by some to be somewhat less turbulent and difficult, the struggle should be quite different for Malaysia in its quest to become a newly-industrialised economy. Given the diverse structures of the economy, it has its own internal problems, with its strengths and weaknesses. Malaysia has benefited from higher world energy prices although at the time the cost of domestic gasoline and diesel rising and it has forced the government to reduce the subsidies as well as contributed the higher inflation. Malaysia has reduces the risk of financial crisis throughout the strong foreign exchanges reverse and a small external debt. However, Malaysia economy is still depend on continued growth in the US, China and Japan as a top exporting countries and main sources of foreign investment. All these plans are stated in Ninth Malaysia Plan for its five years national development agenda. The plans targets the development of higher value added manufacturing and an expansion of the service sector stated in Tenth Malaysia Plan. 1.3.1 Economic growth by sector and employment share Malaysias gross domestic product (GDP) grew from RM10 billion in 1970 to about RM37 billion in 1980. It increased further to RM119 billion in 1990 and RM222 billion in 1995. In 2005 and 2009, it increased from RM449 billion to RM528 billion. These figures represent a GDP growth rate of 11% between 1970 and 2009 as shown in Table 1.3. The manufacturing sector expanded from 15% of GDP the in 1970 to 19, 24, 26, 33 and 27 % in 1980, 1990, 1995, 2000 and 2009, respectively and declined to 31% in 2005, while the share of agriculture in the GDP declined from 28 % in 1970 to 25, 15, 13 and 10 % in 1980, 1990, 1995 and 2005 respectively. The services sector declined from 42 % in 1970 to 39 in 1980. This sector increases to 46 % and 51 % in 1990 and 1995 respectively but declined to 47 % in 2005, indicating the growing government role and common enhancement in the services condition. All the sectors also changed during the last two decades, particularly in agriculture and mining sectors. In t he mining sector, tin production has declined subsequently crude petroleum became the majot contributor to the Malaysia economy growth. The manufacturing sector transformed from agriculture based products to the manufactured of electrical and electronic components, petroleum products and palm oil products. the export was significant contributor to growth particularly on manufactured goods which has contributed 74.8 percent of total export in 2007. (sources:MITI, Vol.18, date 30 Otc.2008). the electrical and electronic products became the major export of manufactured product, followed by chemical products, machinery, metal, wood products and scientific equipment. Table 1.3: Malaysian gross domestic products by industry, 1970-2005 (RM million in 2000 prices) Source: Economic Report, various issues, Ministry of Finance, Kuala Lumpur The unemployment rate has been relatively decline with a increase in the employment situation for manufacturing and services sector but decrease in agriculture and mining sectors. The services sector has absorbed 52 percent in 2009 compared to 32 percent in 1970. Figure 1.1 shows the contribution to the GDP by the main sectors in Malaysia for year 2009. The services sector became the largest contributor to the GDP compared with the manufacturing sector. This sector includes electricity, water, transportation, wholesale, health, education, hotel and restaurant. Source: Economic Planning Unit, 2009 Figure 1.1: Contribution to the GDP by sector, Malaysia, 2009 In 1970, employment share of the primary sector (agriculture and mining) accounted for 53 % of the total employment. In 1980 and 1990, it declined to 41.4 and 26.6 % respectively as shown in Table 1.4. Employment in the primary sector declined further to 15.2 % and 12 % in 2000 and 2009, respectively. On the other hand, the secondary (manufacturing and construction) sector absorbed about 35.0 % of the workforce in 2009, compared with 26.2, 21.3 and 11.4 % in 1990, 1980 and 1970 respectively. Table 1.4: Gross domestic product and employment share by industry (In 2000 prices) GDP Share (Employment Share) 1970 1980 1990 2000 2005 2009 Primary Sector Agriculture, forestry, livestock and fishing 28 (53.5) 25 (39.7) 15 (26.0) 9 (15.2) 10 (12) 7 (12) Mining and quarrying 7 (2.6) 10 (1.7) 12 (0.6) 11 (0.4) 13 (0.4) 8 (0.4) Secondary sector Manufacturing 15 (8.7) 19 (15.7) 24 (19.9) 33 (27.6) 31 (28.6) 26 (28.4) Construction 4 (2.7) 4 (5.6) 4 (6.3) 4 (8.1) 3 (7.0) 3 (6.6) Services sector 42 (32.5) 39 (37.3) 46 (57.2) 48 (48.7) 47 (51.0) 56 (52.6) Total 100 100 100 100 100 100 (Unemployment):% 7.4 5.7 5.1 3.1 3.2 4.5 Per capita GDP (RM) 1,932 3,038 4,426 8,899 16,497 18,838 Source: Economic Report, various issues, Economic Planning Unit The GDP per capita increased from about RM1,932 in 1970 to about RM3,038, RM4,426 and RM18,838 in 1980, 1990 and 2009 respectively. The employment share in the primary sector decreased from 56.1% to 12% while that of the industrial and services sectors increased from 8.7 % and 32.5 to 28 % and 52.6 % respectively over the thirty-year period from 1970 to 2009 (shown in Table 1.4). With the rise in the employment opportunities, the unemployment rate contracted, except for the mid-1980s, from 7.4 % in 1970 to 3.2 % in 2005 but has since then risen slightly to 4.5% by 2009. The labour market became so tight in the 1990s that some sub-sectors had to resort to imported labour from abroad. (EADN, 2006). Since the 1970s, Malaysia has transformed itself from an economy dependent on raw materials production with a largely poor population to a multisector economy with a middle-income population. These changes have affected the Malaysian household through employment opportunities especially when the Malaysian economy has undergone major structural changes since 20 years ago consequence, the quality of life improved due to the strong growth in the manufacturing and services sector. The Malaysian household has benefited through on increase in its income as well as an improvement in its standard of living and change in expenditure pattern. 1.3.2 The Malaysian household income and expenditure trends Since Malaysia has experienced a remarkable change from an agriculture country to an industrialized country, its GDP has grown from RM37 billion in 1980 to RM528 billion in 2009. As Sanne (1998) pointed out that there is closely relationship between expenditure and income because expenditure patterns tend to change when incomes increase. However, expenditure or consumption plays an important role in generating GDP after export. Figure 1.2 shows a comparison of the GDP per capita between Malaysia, Asia and the world. During 1991 to 2006, Malaysias GDP per capita rapidly increased twice compared with Asia and World. Mean thats, the income of every Malaysian household has increased from time to time except for 1997 when Malaysia suffered from the economic crisis, but the Malaysian economy was still under control compared with other developing countries. Source: Earth Trends Country Profiles, Malaysia Figure 1.2: GDP per capita, 1991-2006 Figure 1.3 shows the Malaysian mean annual household income between 1985 and 2007. Households benefited from the continued increase in disposable incomes arising from high export earnings and positive economic growth which also generated full-employment and income-earning opportunities among the Malaysians. Moreover, the competitive credit provided further support to more household spending. The growth and structural transformation of the Malaysian economy has wide implication on the growth of employment opportunities as well as the distribution of labor force by sectors. Source: Economic Asian Development Network, Economic Reports (Various Issues) Table 1.3: Malaysian mean annually gross household income (RM) 1985-2007 As income level increased, the monthly consumption expenditure per household grew from RM731 in 1980 to RM1, 935 in 2005 (Department of Statistic, 1980-2005). With this quantitative rise in spending came a shift in the type of goods and services under demand. Income grew at an average rate 4 % during 1997 to 2007. According to the Economic Planning Unit, household income in 2004 was around RM38,988. This suggests that the average Malaysian household was quite capable of managing its finances and avoiding overspending. In 1980/82, the average household spending amounted to RM732 monthly, compared with RM412 in 1973. The rise in household expenditure during the period 1994 -1999 was not due to price increases only that households were consuming more, indicating an increase in their income and purchasing power, corresponding to the many years of healthy economic growth. After adjusting for inflation, households recorded a 3.4 % growth in expenditure, in real terms, during the period of 1994-1999. The higher household spending in 1999 was accompanied by the increase in the bundle of goods bought by households, not just because of higher prices. 1.4 Sustainable development and population The basic issue between economic development and environment is the concept of sustainable development. The concept of sustainable development is a broad view of human wellbeing, a long term perspective about the consequences of present activities and full participation of civil society to reach possible resolutions. There are many predecessors (see, for example, Barry, 1977; Page, 1977), the most popular formulation given by the World Commission on Environment and Development on the subject of the sustainable development basic concept: development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (WCED, 1987, p43). In terms of economic, the concept of sustainable development implies the important relationship between economic growth and environmental protection in conducting economic activities and utilizing natural resources to fulfill human needs. In Malaysia, sustainable development cannot be achieved if economic growth, social development and environmental protection work separately. Hence, the policy on the environmental has been developed to take into consideration the incorporation of these three actions. Through the sustainable development, Malaysian government plans at continued in enhancing the economic performance, social and quality of life of its people (National policy on environment, 2002). The issue of environmental is crucial for policy-makers in their effort to appear green, in terms of global warming, destruction of the ozone layer, deforestation and population pressure. A number of competing issues and possible solutions to threats ranging from air to water, ground, noise pollution, radioactivity, toxic wastes, pesticides, and endangered species have been implemented (Khalid, 2007). Most of the important goals of sustainable development such as providing a high quality of life for present and future generations were achieved but the economic and social problems are still exist. The economic and social problems faced by Malaysia were mostly from the lack of development and insufficient infrastructure in its early period of industrialization. The rapidly economic development through urbanization, industrialization and other land-use activities since 1980s later gave rise to water, air and land pollution, which have remained as serious environmental problems in Malaysia (Khalid,2007). This problems related to the lack of development in Malaysia gave rise to environment imparts due to inadequate hygienic facilities and lack of proper housing particularly in the rural area. This is the same arise to urban settlement where the unchecked sprawling growth resulted in crowded condition and pollution of rivers by human being. Figure 1.4 shows that quality of life index pe rformed better from 1992 to 2002, while environment index not performed well due to economic and social problem. Environment index grew at -4.3 percent from 1990 to 2007 and this sturcutre should be taken into consideration. In generally, human being is need the clean water and hygienic services because it is very important to ensure good health and proper living. Source: Malaysia Quality of Life, 2004, Economic Planning Unit (EPU),Malaysia Figure 1.4: Malaysia quality of life index and environment index, 1990-2000 Moreover, environmental problems are also closely related to industrialization activities directly and indirectly by households. Economists view on the purpose of production is to feed consumption or household demand. Evaluation of the environmental and social impacts of households need to account for both the direct impacts of the household, such as disposal of household wastes and the emission arising from fuel combustion in a household, and the indirect impacts which are caused during the production of the goods and the delivery of the services to the household. In Malaysia, three factors that influence the intensity of environmental pollution are population size, economic activities and production activities. From these factors, production activities are the most responsible for worsening industrial pollution in Malaysia (Khalid, 2007). Some studies suggest that population growth is one of the major factors causing CO2 emissions (York et al., 2003; Shi, 2003; Cole and Neumeyer, 2004), but the growth of population in Malaysia can also contributed to the worsening of natural resources or system of biological life support. As population increases, the symptom of ecological pressures and scarcity of natural resources will be occurred including deforestation, soil erosion, overfishing and overcrowding as well as economic stress is indicated through lower output, inflation and unemployment, and social problems. Due to the increasing population, pressure builds up for increased production from land use, hence the results from these activities will raise the soil erosion and degradation. These activities are not limited to the destroyed of land but also a declined in the flow of rivers, increased flood levels and silting of reservoir and dam. (Khalid, 2007). A growing population also leads to increase in energy consumption especially electricity, to meet the increased demand and to service the new development areas. Motor vehicle ownership is also increased with a growing population that becomes more affluent, and consequently contributing to greater pollution, particularly in generating CO2 emissions. Sources: United Nation Statistic Division, IMF/2005 Figure 1.5: The total number of newly registered motor vehicles and energy consumption per capita, 1980-2004 From 1980 to 2004, a general increase in CO2 emission was experienced by Malaysia. Only in 1998/1999 was a decline to about 17.6 % seen Figure 1.5. At this time, there was also a drop in the number newly registered private motor vehicles and energy consumption as shown in Figure 1.5. This indicates that a reduction in the use or ownership of motor vehicles will reduce energy consumption (of petroleum) and thereby the generation of CO2. Figure 1.6 shows the total of CO2 emissions in Malaysia. Therefore, household expenditure continues to shift away from food towards transports particularly in fuel consumption even though spending on motor vehicles fall. Fuels consumption continues to rise with worsening in public transport system have declined from 11 % to 6 % and it grew at -4.1 % between 1999 and 2005 (DOS). Sources: United Nation Statistic Division, IMF Figure 1.6: The Carbon dioxide emissions (CO2), Malaysia In order to reduce the CO2 emissions, many policy-makers have implemented various pollution control policies, for example by improving the public transportation system and increasing the oil price. However, the best way to reduce CO2 emission is to reduce energy consumption by household direct and indirectly. 1.5 Total primary energy supply and final consumption in Malaysia The rapid economic growth in Malaysia has largely impact the energy supply and consumption. The annual growth rate of GDP and total households energy primary use are 5.7 and 7.4 respectively in the 1990s as shown in Table 1.5. However, the economic growth slowed down from 1996 to 2000 due to economic crisis of 1997 in Asian region. The annual average total primary energy supply (TPES) growth increases much from 1991 to 2000 due to major investments particularly in the transportation and industrial sectors, 41.8% and 37.7% respectively. The trends in energy use of Malaysia are relatively same to the trends found in many developing countries such as study done by Park (2007) for Korea and Pachauri (2002) for India. The total primary energy supply (TPES) in Malaysia increased from 5-10 Mtoe between 1991 and 2006. Table 1.5: Income and energy supply and consumption in Malaysia Annual growth rates in % 1991 2000 2008 1991-2000 2000-2008 1991-2008 GDP in Ringgit Malaysia at 2000 constant prices (Million) 205,312 356,401 476,182 5.7 2.94 8.78 Total primary energy supply (Ktoe) 26,335 50,710 69,846 6.8 3.25 10.25 (Per capita TPES in Ktoe) 1.39 2.17 2.59 4.6 1.77 6.41 Total household primary energy use (Ktoe) 13,961 28,705 42,901 7.5 4.10 11.88 (Per capita total household energy in Ktoe) 0.74 1.23 1.59 5.2 2.59 7.94 Direct household primary energy use (Ktoe) 843 1,650 2,565 6.9 4.51 11.77 (Per capita direct household energy in Ktoe) 0.04 0.07 0.10 4.7 3.10 9.04 Sources: Department of Statistic Malaysia and own calculation The enormous growth rates of Asian economy give a large impact to the energy consumption. In the 1990s, the petroleum production and consumption increased tremendously as well as an increase of hydroelectric and coal in generating the electricity for the nation. The demand and consumption of energy increased tremendously from 1991-1997 as shown in figure 1.7. A large amount of investment on electrical infrastructure and automobile has caused primary energy consumption reached at approximately 27.23 million tones and electricity generation almost 6 Mtoe in 2000 and will continue to rise. Source: Malaysia Energy Centre, 2000 Figure 1.7: The total energy consumption and GDP in Malaysia from 1991 to 2006. The future economic growth for any country is hard to forecast but to generate an exactly estimation, firstly must account for the physical and economic growth of the nation. Malaysia projected to grow at 5.7% % annually and will continue at this rate for many years. With increasing rate of urbanization, total primary energy demand is set to increase by nearly 7 % annually. Moreover, political stability and development will continue to drive the economy forward. The Malaysian Ministry of Energy suggest that to provide for its citizens energy demands, RM 4.86 billion dollars will be required over the next 10-15 years: 60% allotted to energy generation and the remainder to transmission and distribution of energy. Such enormous economic growth and increasing infrastructure and demand will likely send the total energy use to well over 100 Mtoe in the year 2020. The growth rate of urbanization shows that the industrial sector of the economy, the sector remains unchanged to require large portions of the total amount of energy used in the nation. The industrial sector could increase to upwards of 50% of the nations economy in continuing competition. The switch towards public transportation in urban areas will potentially cause a decline in the percentage of the economy occupied by the transportation sector. The energy use of residential and commercial sector remains relatively constant occupying only 13%-14% of the total energy use. Vision 2020 sets goals and standards for the nations future as a whole. Malaysia is become a totally developed and united country by the year 2020. In line with to this, Malaysia targets to raise the living standard of rural and urban peoples as well as reducing poverty, finally leading to an increase in the total household primary energy consumption all over the nation. The annual growth rate of total household primary energy consumption is 7.5% and direct household primary energy consumption about 6.9% from 1996 to 2000. Since households income and consumption expenditure increased, the household energy requirement increased too as shown in Figure 1.6. The total primary energy supply of 50,710 Ktoe in 2000 was for an income of RM 356,401million economy very high compared to 1991. 1.6 The effect of energy consumption on the environment Energy use contributes to a range of environmental pressures and is a major source of greenhouse and acid gases. The most polluting fuel, in terms of CO2, SO2, NOx and particulate emissions, is coal, followed by oil. Natural gas burns much more cleanly, can be used more efficiently in domestic boilers, and produces as much CO2 per unit of energy. Disposal of electronic waste such as dry batteries presents serious risks associated with carcinogenic substances, which can be leached to soil and groundwater over the medium and long term. Uncontrolled land filling also releases contaminants, with a time lag. Incineration or co-incineration of electronic equipment waste with neithe

Free College Admissions Essays: Passion for Economics :: College Admissions Essays

My Passion for Economics    The crucial importance and relevance of economics related disciplines to the modern world have led me to want to pursue the study of these social sciences at a higher level. My study of Economics has shown me the fundamental part it plays in our lives and I would like to approach it with an open mind - interested but not yet fully informed.    Having spent half of my life in India I have direct experience of two very different lifestyles making me more eager and enthusiastic to investigate other ways of life from a macro perspective. After completing my A-Levels, I hope to travel to Germany with a few friends in order to find out more of this culture and improve my German. Due to my different experiences, I am multilingual and can speak fluent Hindi and Gujarati.    In the Sixth Form, I regularly attend the school Debating Society, where I jointly hold the senior most position and organize many school charity events in my Senior Prefect role of Charities Coordinator. In the past, this has included raising nearly  £3000 on the behalf of an Indian Cultural Society Fashion Show for the Indian earthquake. I was involved in the establishing of the first ever Student School Council in which I was Year Representative.    Last year, I was involved in designing a roof for a proposed Tate Modern extension in a project sponsored by architecture firm Ove Arup. For this, I gained a Crest 'Gold' Award but more importantly the opportunity to investigate something from a technical point of view, thus branching away from my mainly unscientific subject base.    The demanding nature of the work has given me an added sense of responsibility but also of pride, fulfilment, and greater appreciation for hard work, ultimately making me more mature and dependable.    My other hobbies are equally varied, including Badminton, Club Cricket, and helping in the production of plays such as Bugsy Malone and The Threepenny Opera at school. Thanks to my love of reading, I have in the past written book reviews for The Asian Age newspaper.    I take pride in and put effort into all my work, whether academic or not.

Contrast Between Satire in The Rape Of The Lock and A Modest Proposal E

Contrast Between Satire in The Rape Of The Lock and A Modest Proposal   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Although Alexander Pope's, "The Rape Of The Lock" and Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal" are both witty satires, they differ on their style, intention, and mood. To begin, in "The Rape Of The Lock," Alexander Pope uses Horation satire to invoke a light, whimsical, melancholy mood to illustrate the absurdity of fighting over the cutting of one's hair. In fact, Horation satire is defined by K. Lukes as a device that is: " urban, smiling, witty" and "seeks to correct the human foibles." and is further reiterated in The Concise Oxford Dictionary Of Literary terms as: "Horation satire, often contrasted with the bitterness of Juvenalian satire, is a more indulgent, tolerant treatment of human inconsistencies and follies, ironically amused rather than outraged" (101). Thus, Alexander Pope's intentions in writing "The Rape Of The Lock" was to turn an actual incident in which: "A young man Lord Petre, had sportively cut off a lock of a Miss Arabella Fermor's hair,"(Poetry, 211) into "jest ... so that good relations (and possibly negotiations toward a marriage between principals) might be resumed" (Poetry, 211) This type of satire is conveyed through P ope's use of mock epic form. This satire first begins with Pope's invocation to the muses, a higher power, emphasizing that the tragedy about to occur is above mere worldly issues, and a debate that belongs amongst the gods. Hence, Pope writes: "What dire offense from amorous causes springs, / What mighty contests rise from trivial things, I sing-This verse to Caryll, Muse! is due" (English,1110). It is comical that the "dire offense" is the cutting of Belinda's hair rather than a life-threatening... ...gh a twisted, absurd, fictitious proposal to condemn their actions, and thus, hopes to "shock" those involved into social change.    WORKS CITED Allison, Barrows, Blake, et al. eds. The Norton Anthology Of Poetry . 3rd Shorter ed. New York: Norton, 1983. 211. Baldick, Chris. The Concise Oxford Dictionary Of Literary Terms , New York: Oxford University Press, 1990. Lukes, K. B.A. (Hons.) (Alberta), M.A. (Brit. Col.), English. English 424 Section:3 Term 93/3 Class Lectures Sept. 1993 Pope, Alexander. "The Rape Of The Lock". In The Norton Anthology Of English Literature: The Major Authors . Ed. M.H. Abrams et al. 5th Ed. New York: Norton, 1987. 1108-1128 Swift, Jonathan. "A Modest Proposal". In The Norton Anthology Of English Literature: The Major Authors. Ed. M.H. Abrams et al. 5th ed. New York: Norton, 1987. 1078-1085   

Womens Rights Movement in the US Essay -- Womens Liberation Movemen

Women’s Liberation Movement   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Betty Friedan wrote that â€Å"the only way for a woman, as for a man, to find herself, to know herself as a person, is by creative work of her own.† The message here is that women need more than just a husband, children, and a home to feel fulfilled; women need independence and creative outlets, unrestrained by the pressures of society. Throughout much of history, women have struggled with the limited roles society imposed on them. The belief that women were intellectually inferior, physically weaker, and overemotional has reinforced stereotypes throughout history. In the 1960s, however, women challenged their roles as â€Å"the happy little homemakers.† Their story is the story of the Women’s Liberation Movement.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The struggle for women’s rights did not begin in the 1960s. What has come to be called â€Å"Women’s Lib† was, in fact, the second wave of a civil rights movement that began in the early 19th century. This first wave revolved around gaining suffrage (the right to vote). Earlier women’s movements to improve the lives of prostitutes, increase wages and employment opportunities for working women, ban alcohol, and abolish slavery inspired and led directly to the organized campaign for women’s suffrage.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The movement towards women’s suffrage began in 1840 when Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton went to London to attend a World Anti-Slavery Society Convention. The were barred from attending and told to sit in a curtained enclosure with other women attendees if they wished to meet. This incident inspired Mott and Stanton to organize the First Women’s Rights Convention which was held in Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848. Three hundred women and some men came. The Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions, which stressed equality among men and women and also listed grievances, like women’s lack of voting, property, marriage, and education rights, was written at the convention and signed afterwards. This event inspired other conventions, like the first National Women’s Rights Convention in 1850, and the formation of organizations, like the National American Women’s Suffrage Association in 1890, both of which aided the fight for wo men’s suffrage.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After women got the right to vote in 1920, the most devoted members of the women’s movement focused on gaining other rights for women. Alice Paul and Lucy Burns, w... ...elped them to acquire more positive self-images and more desirable roles in society. This consciousness was a significant aspect and legacy of the Women’s Liberation Movement.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The impact of the Women’s Liberation Movement is still with women today, as is the movement itself. Women have the right to vote in most nations and are being elected to public office at all levels of government. Women defy current stereotypes, and those of past generations, by becoming educated and self-aware. Women raise families by themselves and hold positions in all ranks of the workforce. Despite the many disparities that still exist among women and men in America and the rest of the world, women have come a long way. The Women’s Liberation Movement was, and continues to be, a fight for women’s equality in a world run predominately by men.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   WORKS CITED Eisenberg, Bonnie and Mary Ruthsdotter. â€Å"The National Women’s History Project.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   23 May 2004. Schultheiss, Katrin. â€Å"Women’s Rights.† Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   23 May 2004. Zinn, Howard. A People’s History of the United States 1492-Present. New York:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  HarperCollins, 1995.

Summary of the Stanford Prison Experiment

Summary of the Stanford Prison Experiment Nicole Bennett University of Winnipeg The Stanford Prison Experiment involved 24 male college students from North America who volunteered locally through advertisements in newspapers. The volunteers had to be living or staying in the Stanford area, totally healthy – psychologically, mentally, emotionally and physically – as well as willing to participate in the study for around 1-2 weeks. For their participation, volunteers would receive a $15 per day compensation.The Stanford Prison research team relied on outside consultants to help them construct a believable prison in the basement of Stanford's Psychology Department. Their prison contained prison cells, a bathroom, an eating and exercise yard, a solitary confinement room and an intercom system to make announcements to the prisoners. Researchers could observe the guards and also the prisoners using a secretly placed system of video cameras and microphones.Researchers divided the 24 volunteers into two random groups. One group was assigned to be the prison guards while the other group became the prisoners. The volunteers assigned as prisoners learned of their involvement and role through being arrested by real police officers in their homes on campus. What followed was an investigation into human nature. Prisoners experienced extreme degradation, punishment, despair, oppression and depression as they began to wholly believe they were prisoners.The guards took their role quite seriously as they strictly enforced the law and asserted their given power and authority. The Stanford Prison Experiment, which was supposed to last for two weeks, ended after six days when researchers realized that guards were becoming incredibly abusive and that the prisoners were beginning to forget that they were not actual prisoners. What this experiment shows is that we adapt and conform to social roles more easily than thought.

The letter R

Monica Silva Radiant R Every word in the English language derives from 26 seemingly simple letters. Each letter has gone through a unique transition in order to end up how it is today. Some letters have been erased, while some added, and others Just transformed. The complex Journey of the written language can somewhat be seen through the transition of R. The letter R is one of the letters that has been around since the very beginning of writing. R is a unique letter in its pronunciation, history and its place in cultural artifacts as well as math and sciences.While looking at the English alphabet, one would come across the eighteenth letter of the alphabet; R. R can be classified as an ancestor for written language today. While most letters have been around for a very long time, R is one that has residency and that has not had a very large change throughout history. R is a letter that has appeared in some of the oldest writings found. These include inscriptions from the Semitic cultu re. In these writings, R was represented by something that looked like a â€Å"human head in profile† (David Sacks 283) (figure 1).They called this ymbol resh, which translates to ‘head' in the Semitic language. This letter also appears in the Phoenician alphabet. At this time it still represented the word ‘head' but its shape had changed. The illustration turned from a human head profile to something that looked a lot like a modern day backwards P (fgure 2). This illustration could still be classified as a human head, Just with more defined, longer neck. As the Greeks studied the Phoenician alphabet, they took great influence on their letters and took a large part of it as basis for their own alphabet.As for the letter R, they did not hange it much from what it had originally been. They decided to only modify its name so that it would fit better into the sound of their language, thus it became rho. This had â€Å"no special meaning in Greek aside from the letter † (Sacks 285). In early Greek writing, rho could be either turned to the left or the right. It was not until about 500 B. C. that the Greeks decided to permanently have rho facing towards the right, thus making the visual practically the same as the Phoenician alphabet.They made this change because the Greek reading permanently changed from left to right. The tail that is on the R today did not appear until in was formed in ancient Rome. The tail was at first a very short line, but then developed into a complete stroke all the way to the baseline. The lowercase version of r is unique in the fact that it is the only letter that has an uppercase closed section, while its lowercase version does not. This was due to the style of handwriting in the early Middle Ages. Instead of drawing the entire loop and tail, they only drew the top of the curved line (fgure 3).They did this in order to save time and pen strokes while writing. This shortcut has been carried along all the way up to modern day writing. The letter R has a variety of different sounds depending on what word you are saying, what language you are speaking, or even what part of the country you are from due to different accents. The eight different rhetoric consonants are alveolar trill, alveolar approximant, alveolar tlap, voiced retrotlex tricative, retrotlex approximant, retroflex flap, uvular trill, and voiced uvular fricative (Wikipedia).One sound heard in English is the alveolar trill; it is described as a rolling R. Leading air ver articulator so that it can vibrate makes this sound. This sound deals with the tip of the tongue and while making this sound the vocal cords will vibrate. Another rhetoric consonant found in the English language is alveolar approximant. Narrowing the vocal tract where it articulates creates this sound and it also deals with the tip of the tongue and the vocal cords vibrate while making it as well. Another consonant found in English is retroflex approximant.Like alve olar approximant, narrowing the vocal tract at articulation creates this sound. This sound deals with the tip of the ongue as it is turned up and vocal cords will vibrate while creating this sound. The last rhetoric consonant found in English is retroflex flap. This sound is created with one contraction of the muscle, making the tongue thrown against the bottom of the mouth. Like retroflex approximant, the tongue is curled up when making this sound and the vocal cords will vibrate as well. Each of these explained sounds are oral consonants meaning that air can escape from the mouth only.They are also all central consonants meaning that the sound is produced by instructing airstream on he center of the tongue instead of to the sides of the mouth. (Wikipedia). Recordings of all eight rhetoric consonants can be found on the reference page. While making some simple R sounds you could find that if you lift up your tongue, you will then be making the sound of the letter L. This would be b ecause of the fact that R and L are phonetically sisters and they are called liquids. The term liquid consonants mean that these two letters behave in a similar way.These two letters are going to have â€Å"an effect on a vowel sound that precedes them in a word† (Sacks 280). This effect is that of drawing out the vowel's pronunciation and thus making it stronger. Some examples that Sacks gives are the words ‘pole' and ‘poke'. Saying these words aloud, one can hear how the ‘e' in ‘pole' is more prominent than the ‘e' in ‘poke'. This is unique in the fact that the only other letter that makes this effect in the English alphabet is obviously L. Phonetic writing is not the only place you will land eyes on the letter R, it has an importance in science as well as mathematics.In the sciences, the gas constant is represented by the uppercase R. The reason R was chosen to represent the gas constant is unknown but there are three ideas as to why thi s may be. The first idea is simply that it was random. The second idea is that it could possibly stand for ratio. Scientists thought this could be because of the fact that this value of R was found by calculating the constancy of the ratio over pressure and time. The third idea for this representation is that it was named after Henri Victor Regnault. Regnault was the French chemist who calculated the early value of the constant densen 2).In mathematics, the letter R represents the set of all real numbers. R was chosen because Rn refers to the Cartesian product of n copies of R. Another reason is it thought to represent all real numbers is because of the fact that the word real starts with an r (O'Connor 1). Just like R plays a role in mathematics and science, it can be caught playing a role in cultural artifacts as well. The letter R is also known as the dogs letter'. There are many people who have made a connection between the sound of r and a dog. In 1529 Geotry Tory compared the r growling sound to dogs when they are angry and about to bite each other.During the mid first century, a poet named Persius referred to R as ‘dog letter' as well. Also in the Spanish language it is called canina littera, which may be of even greater importance because in Spanish language rolled r's is a major part of their pronunciation. Another person who referred to R as the dogs letter was Ben Jonson in his book English Grammar (Sacks 280). This reference can be found in the famous Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare in Act 2, scene 4. In this part of the play, Juliet's nurse calls the letter R, the dogs name' referring to Romeo as a dog.

Chapter 5 Case Solutions

CHAPTER 5:ACCOUNTING FOR GENERAL CAPITAL ASSETS AND CAPITAL PROJECTS OUTLINE NumberTopicType/TaskStatus (re: 13/e) Questions: 5-1Distinguishing general capital assets from fund capital assetsDescribeNew 5-2Capital asset disclosuresExplainNew 5-3Modified approach for infrastructureDescribeNew 5-4Capital lease accountingDescribe5-8 revised 5-5Asset impairmentExplainNew 5-6Use of capital projects fundsExplain5-4 revised 5-7EncumbrancesExplainSame 5-8Construction work in progressExplainNew 5-9Multiple capital projectsExplainSame 5-10Special assessment capital projectsExplainNew Cases: 5-1Modified approach for infrastructure assetsEvaluate, write5-2 5-2Options for financing public infrastructureEvaluate, explainNew 5-3Political versus economic factors in financing capital improvementsEvaluate, explain5-1 retitled Exercises/Problems: 5-1Examine the CAFRExamine5-1 revised 5-2VariousMultiple Choice5-2 revised 5-3General capital assetsJournal EntriesSame 5-4Capital asset disclosure statementF inancial Statement5-4 revised 5-5Lease classification and accountingCalculate; JEsNew -6Asset impairmentJEs; ReportingNew 5-7Special assessment financingJEs and Explain5-6 revised 5-8Statement of revenues and expendituresCompute; FS5-5 5-9Construction fundJEs & FS5-7 revised 5-10Capital project transactionsJEs & FS5-8 revised CHAPTER 5:ACCOUNTING FOR GENERAL CAPITAL ASSETS AND CAPITAL PROJECTS Answers to Questions 5-1. General capital assets are those that are acquired with the resources of governmental funds and that are reported only in the Governmental Activities column of the government-wide financial statements.Capital assets acquired with the resources of proprietary or fiduciary funds are reported in the financial statements of those funds, as well as in the Business-type Activities column of the government-wide financial statements for enterprise fund capital assets. 5-2. Capital asset disclosures required by the GASB are quite well illustrated by the City and County of Denv er’s capital asset disclosures shown in Illustration 5-2.In brief, the disclosures should include policies for capitalizing assets and for estimating the useful lives of depreciable assets. In addition, the disclosures should include: (1) beginning-of-year and end-of-year balances showing accumulated depreciation separate from historical cost, (2) capital acquisitions during the year, (3) sales or other dispositions during the year, (4) depreciation expense showing amounts charged to each function in the statement of activities, and (5) disclosures regarding collections of art or historical treasures. -3. The modified approach permits a government an alternative to depreciation of certain eligible infrastructure assets. Eligible assets are parts of major networks of infrastructure assets or subsystems of networks, where a network might be a highway system, for example. If the government meets two requirements it can avoid reporting depreciation on its eligible infrastructure assets.The two requirements are: (1) management of eligible infrastructure assets using a management system that includes an up-to-date inventory of eligible assets, condition assessments and results using a measurement scale, and estimates of annual costs to maintain assets at the established and disclosed condition level, and (2) documentation that the assets are being preserved at or above the established condition level. If the government fails to maintain the assets at or above the established condition level, it must revert to reporting depreciation for its nfrastructure assets and discontinue use of the modified approach. 5-4. If the lease meets one or more of the FASB SFAS 13 criteria for a capital lease, as discussed in this chapter, the lease must be reported as a capital lease. If the lease is deemed to be a capital lease, the governmental fund journal entry on the date of inception will include a debit to Expenditures and a Credit to Other Financing Sources—Capita l Lease Agreements.The journal entry at the government-wide level will be the same as that used in business accounting—a debit to Equipment and a credit to Capital Lease Obligations Payable. Ch. 5, Answers (Cont’d) 5-5. Disagree. GASBS 42 requires the government to assess assets for which value might have become impaired. If impairment is judged to have occurred, then the amount of impairment loss must be estimated using one of the approaches described in GASBS 42. The amount of loss will be recorded as an expense of the appropriate function or program and as a reduction in the carrying value of the asset. -6. The use of a capital projects fund is usually required for major construction projects requiring large amounts of financing. The use of a capital projects fund may also be useful for purchases of high-cost items such as acquisitions of land, buildings, and high-cost equipment. A capital projects fund must also be used whenever required by law or grant provisions. 5-7. To facilitate preparation of financial statements at the end of the fiscal year, all operating and budgetary accounts should be closed, including Encumbrances.However, since the project is still underway and contractual commitments still exist to pay contractors when billed, it is essential that Encumbrances be reestablished at the beginning of the next year in order to maintain budgetary control over outstanding commitments. 5-8. All ordinary and necessary costs to construct the asset are appropriately reported as construction work in progress. This includes all legal costs, engineering and architectural services, site preparation, materials used, and billings from contractors, among other items.Interest incurred during construction is not capitalized for general capital assets, however. Construction Work in Progress is found in the ledger for governmental activities at the government-wide level for general capital assets, and not in the ledger for the capital projects fund. In the capital projects fund, all capitalizable items are debited to Construction Expenditures. 5-9. For a multiple-projects fund, encumbrances and construction expenditures should be identified in a manner that will indicate to which project each applies.This can be accomplished by adding a project identifier to the Encumbrances and Construction Expenditures accounts, such as Encumbrances? Street Project or Construction Expenditures? Project No. 10. Identifying encumbrances and expenditures by project facilitates comparisons to budget for particular projects and presentation of cash and expenditure statements for multi-project operations. For example, the City of Smithville Continuous Computerized Problem that accompanies this text has two capital projects funds named the Springer Street Project and the Alzmann Street Project. 5-10.Capital projects fund accounting for special assessments is virtually identical in both of these situations. The only difference is that the credit entr y for issuance of special assessment bonds is to Other Financing Sources—Contribution from Property Owners if the government assumes no responsibility for the debt, rather than to Other Financing Sources—Proceeds of Special Assessment Bonds with Governmental Commitment. Solutions to Cases 5-1. a. Discuss with students various methods of obtaining financial statements and getting â€Å"benchmark† data to make comparisons across entities.Professional associations such as the Government Finance Officers Association, National Association of State Auditors, Controllers and Treasurers, and Association of School Business Officials publish â€Å"best practices† for various areas of public finance, accounting, and financial reporting. Since each student will have a different list of cities, ask them to compare their results with other students and look for patterns in which types and sizes of governments make similar choices in accounting methods, particularly, in this case, regarding choice of infrastructure asset accounting methods. . An important communication skill for students to master is to convey technical financial accounting information in an effective way so that decision makers find the information useful for making informed decisions. You may wish to ask students to show their memo or essay to a finance director of a city and get their opinion about whether the student has captured the fundamental issues relating to infrastructure and communicated it in a professional and informative manner. c.During the implementation years of GASBS 34, the GFOA and some state auditors released policy statements indicating to governments that they did not have to capitalize infrastructure assets to meet minimum standards for the GFOA’s Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting or the states’ reporting compliance regulations. Despite such statements, most governments that sought a â€Å"clean† audit op inion voluntarily developed inventories of infrastructure and followed GAAP for infrastructure reporting.For most general purpose governments, omitting infrastructure assets would cause their statement of net assets to be materially misstated resulting in a qualified or adverse audit opinion—likely the latter. A government receiving an adverse audit opinion may experience a downgrading of its bond rating and thus face considerably higher cost of borrowing. 5-2a. Option (1), the sales tax approach, offers the advantage of spreading the burden for infrastructure improvements across a larger number of taxpayers, including many non-residents who visit or shop in Desert City.From an equity standpoint, the sales tax approach has appeal because infrastructure improvements enhance the city for visitors and shoppers, as well as for residents. Disadvantages of this approach are the necessity of scheduling and conducting a special election and the political risk of advocating for a tax increase. Option (2), the development fee approach, has the advantage of being relatively â€Å"invisible† to the public and efficient to administer since the number of developers will be relatively small.Although real estate developers can be expected to pass the development fee to new homeowners and businesses, property values may be increased by enhanced infrastructure (e. g. , improved streets and highways, adequate storm drainage, and so forth). As a result, taxpayers may recoup a portion of the development fee. The main disadvantage is the potential inequity of the development Ch. 5, Solutions, Case 5-2 (Cont’d) fee since a relatively high financial burden is imposed on new homeowners and new businesses for infrastructure expansion and improvement that may substantially benefit the entire city.A city council member may prefer the development fee approach since it holds less political risk than asking residents to approve a tax increase. The city manager may prefe r the sales tax approach as retail sales may be less volatile than new construction, which can be strongly impacted by the local, regional, and national economies. Since the city manager is responsible for ensuring that infrastructure stays abreast of population and new development, he or she may prefer a more stable source of infrastructure financing.Current homeowners and businesses might be expected to prefer the development fee approach since those fees would not directly impact on their property and would place the incidence of the tax on others. It would be surprising if new homeowners or new businesses favored the development fee approach as they would probably view it as inequitable. b. Accounting and financial reporting would be minimally impacted by which option is ultimately chosen. Either way, there is revenue to be recognized in a capital projects fund (a tax in one case and development fee in the other).Accounting for infrastructure construction would not be affected b y the source of financing. 5-3. a. Regardless of how a student voted, he or she had plenty of company. With a record voter turnout for such an election, the half-cent sales tax was barely approved. Only 51. 7 percent of the voters in Brown County voted for the tax. As expected, 56. 5 percent of the voters in the City of Brownville voted against it. Except for a few precincts in other cities and towns, voters outside Brownville voted overwhelmingly in support of the tax.While there is no â€Å"right† answer to this question, each student should have provided a rationale similar to one of the arguments provided in the case. A few students may develop unique arguments in support of their vote. Generally, the students who voted for the proposed tax must have thought the county-wide benefits of improved roads and bridges were worth the extra tax costs and outweighed the possible detrimental effects on the City's financial flexibility.Those who voted against it presumably did so us ing the rationale expressed by some voters in exit polls, â€Å"why should I pay more for roads that will benefit rural county residents more than me. † b. Although some students may profess an altruistic motivation for their vote, most are expected to reflect economic rationality. That is, they would likely vote for the sales tax increase if they were an owner of a large commercial or manufacturing property, and would therefore realize a net economic benefit from the property tax rollback and sales tax increase.Even then some students may justify the â€Å"yes† vote on the basis of the county-wide benefits of improved infrastructure rather than their financial self-interest. Ch. 5, Solutions, Case 5-3 (Cont’d) c. Again, there is no right answer to this question. Students (Brownville voters) who voted against the tax probably would argue that residents who primarily benefit should pay for the improvements (i. e. , special assessment financing should have been us ed). Those who voted for the tax probably would argue that the broader (county-wide) economic benefits of improved county infrastructure justifies inancial support by all county residents. Some who voted for the tax may have preferred special assessment financing but possibly feared that failure to approve the sales tax would doom the needed improvements altogether. d. The County's procedures for accounting for the financing and the capital projects activities will differ slightly for the option approved by the voters compared with those that would have been used if special assessment financing had been used.But, as explained in Chapter 5, the procedures for accounting for special assessment-financed capital projects are quite similar to those for other capital projects, especially when, as is often the case, the government is committed in some manner for repaying debt issued for the project. Since bond financing is typically used for special assessment capital projects, accounting for both special assessment taxes and debt service would have been required for an extended period, probably ten years or more.Whether these differences would be termed â€Å"significant† accounting issues is a matter of conjecture; they might be considered significant by the financial staff of the County. Solutions to Exercises and Problems 5-1. Each student will have a different annual report, so he or she will have different answers to questions in this exercise. The various kinds of capital assets and capital projects, wide variety of financing mechanisms, and different accounting policies used in and by governments should generate interesting classroom discussions. 5-2. 1. a. 6. c. 2. d. 7. d. 3. c. 8. c. 4. a 9. a. 5. b. 10. c.