Implementing Gun Safety On School Classrooms - 2429 Words

Samantha Russo Professor Sandoz Research Methods-Block 3 29 September 2014 Implementing Gun Safety in School Classrooms Nine year old Aaron Schmitt had been rummaging around in his dad’s closet and found a shiny new toy. He was enthralled with his find. As he felt the cold metal in his hand, he thought of the fun he could have playing a game of cops and robbers. Aaron spun the gun around in his hand wanting to show it to his friends. He knew he should ask for permission from his parents to take the gun but he figured his dad would never realize the gun was missing. He thought long and hard about what he was going to do and finally decided that he was going to take the gun to school and show it off. His decision made, he put the gun in his backpack to take to school the following morning. Significantly, gun play has increased over time, and students are not realizing what harm they can cause. Students have brought guns into schools before, both real and fake. Students who bring in fake guns usually are able to get off on a referral. A referral is an act of referring someone or something for cons ultation, review, or further action. When teaching gun safety to students most instructor’s goals are to teach children hierarchical skills. This means teaching them skills in order of ranks. Students have been caught bringing guns into school since the late 1800’s. In the last ten years more than 100 school shootings around the United States have occurred. The most recent shootingShow MoreRelatedHow Metal Detector s Effect Students Behavior Essay1282 Words   |  6 Pagesshow how metal detector’s effect students’ behavior in the school day and to show if the school benefits from having them. Students’ in many school districts across the nation go to schools with different demographics and environments that tend to effect the students’ throughout the school day. The environment in return creates a response that could potentially hinder the student from learning in the school he/she attends. Therefore, school systems act on the statistics that have shown that violenceRead MorePersuasive Essay On Gun Control949 Words   |  4 Pages School should be a place of peace and opportunity, but gaps in the system of gun control threatens the safety of faculty and students. School shootings have killed a total of 297 lives, young and old (Slate Magazine). Gun control has been a continuous nationwide debate for many years. It seems that no one wants to take a stance against guns unless they are personally affected. In order to take control of the matter and prevent more incidents from continuing schools need to change. To achieve a safeRead MoreShould Teachers Be Carry Guns For Deterrent Reasons?1718 Words   |  7 PagesAble To Carry Guns For Deterrent Reasons? During the past few years, the number of school shootings has increased markedly. In 2013, there were 19 school shootings that occurred, taking so many innocent lives. Some may remember the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting on December 14th, 2013. It was the second deadliest massacre shooting in United States history, behind the 2007 Virginia Tech Massacre. Adam Lanza shot twenty children, six staff, his mother, and himself that day. School shootings areRead MoreGun Control Should Be Legal1721 Words   |  7 PagesUnfortunately, across the nation there have been at least 156 school shootings in America since 2013— an average of nearly one a week. (Unknown, 2015) There have been multiple attempts to address and avoid the dangers students + staff face while on â€Å"gun free† campuses. Many pro-gun enthusiast argue that the right to bear arms is in fact a constitutional right, therefore everyone should be able to have a license to carry to defend themselves. Obvious ly the only way to secure campuses from bulletsRead MoreThe Debate Over Gun Control925 Words   |  4 PagesGun Control is a hot debate topic, where people have been divided into two different viewpoints. The majority of states has supported their colleges to carry guns in case of a mass shootout. While the majority of liberal and democratic oppose carrying guns onto school property. Some states such as Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Wisconsin, and Mississippi has already passed the law to allowed students to carry concealed weapons on campuses to protect themselves from unwanted mass shootersRead MoreArmed Teachers: Superheroes of the Future?1364 Words   |  5 Pagesconsidered outcasts, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, walked into Columbine High School in Colorado, opened fire and murdered twelve students, one teacher, while injuring twenty-four additional students before turning the gun on themselves. In 2007, Seung-Hui Choo, a senior at Virginia Tech, shot and kil led thirty-two people and injured seventeen others, before turning the gun on himself. It was the deadliest mass shooting at a school in United States history. In 2012, Adam Lanza, shot and killed his motherRead MoreCrisis Management Response Plan Essay1427 Words   |  6 Pagesemergencies. Administrators work with teachers, students, parents, law enforcement officers, business and community members, to develop an effective emergency and crises plan. The administrator provides leadership in developing and monitoring the school safety plan and also establishes procedures for emergency evacuation and crisis management at different stages of the plan. However, an effective leader develops a comprehensive prevention education plan, and regularly reviews the code of conduct manualRead MoreColumbine Shootings And Its Impact On School Security1749 Words   |  7 Pages  Introduction Tuesday April 20th, 1999 began like any other day. Parents went to work, and the children went off to school. Neither worried about the other, or how their day would turn out. But, hours later everything changed (â€Å"Columbine Highschool Massacre.†). Little did the residents of Columbine, Colorado know their high school would be a statistic for one of the largest school massacres in US History. On this day, two teenage boys were responsible for killing 12 innocent students and a teacherRead MoreEssay on Violence in Schools1490 Words   |  6 PagesViolence in schools is a problem that Americans have had to face at an ever increasing rate. Instead of fistfights, the issues are fatal, like school shootings. Violence is nationally defined as a physical force used to injure, damage or destroy (Guralnik, D., 1997, P.1490). In the past decade, students are using more than physical force. They are using deadly weapons to injure or kill their peers and authority figures, and t o destroy school property. Safety is considered to be the freedom fromRead MorePublic Schools Have Improved Their Safety Protocols1299 Words   |  6 PagesOn April 20, 1999, two teenaged boys opened fire at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, killing 13 students and wounding more than 20 others before ending their lives later that day. This crime was the worst school shooting in the 20th century and it has drastically changed the ways our schools operate. Although schools today are still not 100% safe and have had a few incidents in the past 10 years, we are slowly evolving and becoming better each year. Because of the Columbine massacre

What Did Cedric s High School Fail Help Provide Him With...

To what extent did cedric’s high school fail to provide him with an excellent education? How did cedric’s experiences in highschool affect how he approached his college education and how he performed in college? Defend your argument referencing specific events from the book a hope in the unseen. In his junior year, Cedric is admitted to the Minority Introduction to Engineering and Science summer program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He believes this is the start of a new life for him, but when summer arrives he finds the classes much more difficult than his fellow MIT students who attended better schools and were better versed in math and science. Though he makes friends at MIT, he also sees that his ghetto background sets him apart from them. At the end of the program, Cedric is told by faculty director Leon Trilling that he would not be welcome in MIT as a college student. This infuriates Cedric, and he finds solace in returning to Ballou that fall despite offers to attend better schools for his Senior year. Cedric initially disavows his previous ambitions, then discovers Brown University is particularly accommodating to minority students. He files for early admission and tells everyone he ll be accepted. This indeed becomes the case, though the good news is tempered by Barbara s concern that Cedric may lose his old identity as he moves forward in life. As his senior year winds down, Cedric visits Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. He also findsShow MoreRelatedManagement Course: Mba−10 General Management215330 Words   |  862 Pageseconomic, social, and political churning, how will these driving factors be influenced by the brutally competitive global economy in which organizations do not have any particular geographic identity or travel under any particular national passport? What will be the effect of the rapid gyrations in markets that emphasize the difficulties that accounting practices face in determining true performance costs and that forecasting programs confront in e stablishing the economic determinants of corporate

Julius Caesar4 Essay Example For Students

Julius Caesar4 Essay Summary Two patricians Flavius and Marcullus enter. They are confused by the fact that the plebeians are not in their work clothes, and begin to ask some plebeians what their jobs are. A carpenter admits he is a carpenter. Next Marcullus asks a cobbler what his job is, and the cobbler answers in a series of puns (souls / soles), (withal / with awl). The cobbler explains that everyone is taking the day off to celebrate Caesars victory over Pompey. Marcullus, in high rhetoric, insults the plebeians for being fickle, since they very recently all liked Pompey. He tells them all to go back home and feel very sorry for dishonoring Pompeys memory. The plebeians leave. Flavius suggests that the two of them take down all of the pro-Caesar decorations. Marcullus is worried about getting into trouble since it is the feast of Luprecal after all. Flavius insists, and recommends they that drive all of the plebeians out of the streets. Finally he comments that they must do something to humble Caesar or else he would put himself so far above other men as to make them all slaves.Summary Caesar and his party enter. Caesar asks that his wife Calpurnia stand in Antonys way and that Antony touch her while he is running the race. Both agree. A soothsayer warns Caesar of the ides of March. At first Caesar is interested, but then he dismisses the soothsayer. All leaves except Brutus and Cassius. Cassius says that Brutus hasnt seemed himself recently. Brutus admits that he has been troubled, and has been doing a lot of thinking. Cassius suggests he can tell Brutus what has been troubling him. Brutus mistrusts Cassiuss motives. Cassius assures Brutus he is trustworthy. They hear trumpets and shouting. Brutus comments to himself that he hopes the people havent made Caesar a king. Cassius asks Brutus if he fears the people will do so. Brutus admits he does, and asks Cassius to get to the point. He says if Cassius wants him to do something for the public good he will even if it means his death. Cassius says how upset he is that Caesar has become so popular. He tells how he saved Caesar from drowning when the two of them were children, and how he saw Caesar get very ill while campaigning in Spain. Cassius says Caesar has gotten too powerful, and too proud. Something must be done. He reminds Brutus that his ancestor of the same name helped establish the Roman republic by driving out the Tarquin kings. Brutus admits he is sympathetic and suggests they meet later. Caesar and company return; they look upset. Brutus and Cassius agree to ask Casca what has happened. Caesar tells Antony that yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look; / He thinks too much: such men are dangerous (I.ii.194-5). Antony assures him Cassius is not to be feared. Caesar agrees suggesting that he fears nothing, but continues to criticize Cassius as a brooding and solemn fellow. Caesar and company leave. Casca explains to Brutus and Cassius that Antony offered Caesar a crown three times, each time Caesar refused it, but each time less fervently, and the third time Caesar went into and epileptic fit, i. e., the falling sickness (I.ii2.52). Indeed, Caesar was so popular with the crowd that he offered them his throat to cut as a dramatic gesture. After Caesar recovered from his fit the crowd cheered and clapped all the more. Cassius asks if Cicero said anything, and Casca makes several jokes about unable to understand Cicero because he spoke in Greek. Casca also mentions that Flavius and Marcullus are being put to death for defacing images of Caesar. .u49d4b238bda335395121b946d9efa914 , .u49d4b238bda335395121b946d9efa914 .postImageUrl , .u49d4b238bda335395121b946d9efa914 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u49d4b238bda335395121b946d9efa914 , .u49d4b238bda335395121b946d9efa914:hover , .u49d4b238bda335395121b946d9efa914:visited , .u49d4b238bda335395121b946d9efa914:active { border:0!important; } .u49d4b238bda335395121b946d9efa914 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u49d4b238bda335395121b946d9efa914 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u49d4b238bda335395121b946d9efa914:active , .u49d4b238bda335395121b946d9efa914:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u49d4b238bda335395121b946d9efa914 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u49d4b238bda335395121b946d9efa914 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u49d4b238bda335395121b946d9efa914 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u49d4b238bda335395121b946d9efa914 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u49d4b238bda335395121b946d9efa914:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u49d4b238bda335395121b946d9efa914 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u49d4b238bda335395121b946d9efa914 .u49d4b238bda335395121b946d9efa914-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u49d4b238bda335395121b946d9efa914:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Stock market crash Essay Cassius invites Casca to dinner the next night, and Casca leaves. Brutus says Casca seemed awfully stupid. Cassius says he is just acting stupid so he can get away with being more honest. Brutus says he will meet Cassius the next day and leaves. In a soliloquy Cassius worries that he wont be able to persuade Brutus to kill Caesar. He decides to forge some letters encouraging him to do so, and make it look like all of Rome is behind the idea. Act I,

Three Top Financial Scandals in the Recent Past

Table of Contents Summary Introduction The London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor) Enron Scandal WorldCom scandal Conclusion References Summary Financial scandals have been common in corporations for a considerable length of time. In this particular paper, fraudulent financial activities that have affected three companies have been discussed. The rigging of financial markets and large well established corporations is not a new phenomenon. However, the trend seems to be getting out of control in the modern economy.Advertising We will write a custom term paper sample on Three Top Financial Scandals in the Recent Past specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More There are growing allegations that systematic robbing of financial institutions has been taking place in the past 3 decades or so. One of the worst impacts of financial fraud in these institutions is that the global interest ad exchange rates have always been forcibly fixed by a few fr audulent individuals. In other words, the market forces of demand and supply are hardly left to play their roles in the contemporary liberalized economies. This paper offers a succinct discussion of three top financial scandals that have been witnessed in the recent past. Introduction When banks in London are engaged in the process of borrowing from each other, there is a specific charge that is levied on the service. This average interest rate is referred to as Libor. The Thomson Reuters usually play the role of calculating this value (Snyder, 2012). There are several instances when Libor matters a lot especially when it comes to the net value of a product or when borrowing loans from banks and other financial institutions. For instances, it is highly likely that Libor affects credit card usage and property loans in several ways. Even the US economy is significantly affected by Libor. Other scandals discussed in this paper include the Enron and WorldCom scandals. The London Interba nk Offered Rate (Libor) To begin with, it is perhaps necessary to explore the culprits behind the Libor scandal. The fixing scandal for interest rates is believed to have involved close to twenty major banks both in Europe and the United States. It has also been found out that banks spread across three continents were embroiled in the scandal. The scandal remarkably jeopardized the career of Bob Diamond who was serving as the chief executive officer at that time. Pressure mounted each day for the CEO to surrender his office while other several top professionals in the banking sector across the world were being compelled to quit their offices so that investigations could be started (Snyder, 2012).Advertising Looking for term paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In order to assist the trading position of the bank immediately before the onset of global financial meltdown in 2007, submissions that were nev er true were made to the committee charged with the role of setting interest rates for Libor. This was a critical way of manipulating interest rates so that the overall financial performance of the bank could improve. Besides, this move boosted the profitability of the Barclays Bank (Snyder, 2012). This was a serious fraud bearing in mind that Libor is a leading interest rates benchmark across the global financial markets. The integrity of the interest rates was adversely affected by the Barclays’ behavior since it generally posed a gross financial threat to other market players. Enron Scandal The Enron scandal has also been noted as one of the most popular financial frauds that took place in the last decade. At the onset of the new century, Enron was a company to reckon with in several ways due to its performance and market stability (Foster, 2010). It recorded a tremendous success that several other companies could hardly attain. Nonetheless, a harbinger of elaborate challe nges was recognized by investors when earnings restatement was announced by Enron in mid 2001. Within a period of merely one and a half months, Enron was declared bankrupt and unable to run its financial obligations in spite of the fact that it was powerful market performer and oozed with adequate wealth. The fraudulent financial activities that took place at Enron could be grouped into two categories. First, basic fabrication of numbers took place in the financial records of the company (Salter, 2008). For instance, when its venture with Blockbuster did not succeed, it was poorly valuated. Second, complex financial maneuvers were also witnessed prior to the fall of the company. Nonetheless, the American economic system is largely believed to have significantly contributed to the decline of Enron (Foster, 2010). The people’s trust in the performance of the entire economy was also weakened after the scandal. The executives of the company were described as greedy individuals wh o could not maintain their integrity as outlined in the code of ethics (Fox, 2003). WorldCom scandal Both the accounting fraud and erosion of profits affected the performance and market stability of WorldCom company. Illusionary earnings amounting to billons were created in the eyes of investors whereas the company was headed to serious state of bankruptcy.Advertising We will write a custom term paper sample on Three Top Financial Scandals in the Recent Past specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More One of the major impacts of this fraud was felt in the telecommunications sector. Millions of users were negatively affected by the declined performance of WorldCom Company (Romero, 2002). According to the financial records of this company, the net value of assets owned by the firm was estimated at $107 billion. Before this filing could be released to shareholders, the company reported that expenses amounting to about $3.8 billion had been imp roperly accounted for in the records. Telephone companies, suppliers, and banks were adversely affected by the fraudulent activities at the firm after the scandal was exposed. Before its bankruptcy, the total debts accumulated by the company stood at $41 billion. This marked the beginning of its downfall (Romero, 2002). Conclusion In recap, it can be seen that the financial scandals discussed caused major economic hitch in all the three companies. However, the common attributing factor was poor management of the firms’ resources. References Foster (2010). The decade’s worst financial scandals. Web. Fox, L. (2003). Enron: The Rise and Fall. New York: John Wiley Sons. Romero, S. (2002). WorldCom’s collapse: the overview; WorldCom files for bankruptcy; largest U.S. case. Web.Advertising Looking for term paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Salter, M. (2008). Innovation Corrupted: The Origins and Legacy of Enron’s Collapse. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Snyder, M. (2012). The Biggest Financial scandal in History? Web. This term paper on Three Top Financial Scandals in the Recent Past was written and submitted by user Caitlyn Byrd to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Ogilvy Mather and Its Competitive Strategy for the Next Four Years Essay Example

Ogilvy Mather and Its Competitive Strategy for the Next Four Years Essay Example Ogilvy Mather and Its Competitive Strategy for the Next Four Years Paper Ogilvy Mather and Its Competitive Strategy for the Next Four Years Paper GRADUATE ECONOMICS PROJECT TEMPLATE Enter the required information in the spaces provided on this cover page. DO NOT ENTER TYPE OR CHANGE PAGE 2 your marked project will be returned via your ECU email address. FAMILY NAMEOTHER NAMESTUDENT NUMBER LYONETTE YOUR ECU EMAIL ADDRESS UNIT CODE AND TITLEMBA5627 PRINCIPALS OF ECONOMICS STUDY MODE BY COURSEWORK YOUR PROJECT BUSINESS NAME OGILVY MATHER AND ITS COMPETITIVE STRATEGY FOR THE NEXT FOUR YEARS I HAVE READ AND FOLLOWED PROJECT INSTRUCTIONS (MARK BOX WITH AN X)X YOUR PROJECT WORD COUNT2818YOUR ABSTRACT WORD COUNT100 REMEMBER to save your project using the filename format shown in the examples below SMITH John 0123456 MBA5627 Project S1 2008 CHEN Chunmei 0987654 ECF5600 Project S2 2007 PATEL Rajiv 007007 MBA 5607 Project S2 2008 MWESI Cholo 0333444 MBA 5627 Project S2 2006 PROJECT ASSESSMENT FEEDBACK TitleUsing the analytical tools developed on this unit, conduct an economic environment analysis of a business you have selected for study and suggest a competitive strategy for that business to cover the next four years. Margin abbreviationsA / V / U Avoid this usage / This is verbose / This statement not clear / Ambiguous D Needs definition NS / No! Statement is a non-sequitur i. e. logically incorrect / Statement is factually incorrect R Repetition this point already made S? / Ref! Reference / Source for this statement? / Citation is incorrect or incomplete Sp / P / PE Spelling error / Punctuation error / Poor expression – see writing skills advisor T Title for table, appendices or graph required This assessment task (AT) is graded under the following headings: (1) instructions guidelines; (2) knowledge of economic concepts theories; (3) discovery use of economic data; (4) application of economic analysis; (5) standards conventions: referencing; avoidance of plagiarism, expression; presentation. Summative Comments – see also inked in-text comments Mark: Instructor Comments Content 1. Project title†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦p-4 2. Abstract†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. p-4 3. Introduction†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. p-4 4. Overview of business: Product, Market, Value Creation†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. p-4 5. Business costs in the short and long run†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. p-5 6. Market Structure: Competitor and Regulators†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦p-6 7. Macroeconomic Environment 1: The Business cycle†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦p-8 8. Macroeconomic Environment 2: Marco Policy, Interest Rates and Taxation†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. p-9 9. International Environment: Global Business conditions and Exchange Rate†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦p-9 10. The Driving Forces†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚ ¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. p-10 11. Competitive Strategy for the next four years†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. p-11 12. References†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. p-12 1. PROJECT TITLE Ogilvy Mather and its competitive strategy for the next 4 years . ABSTRACT/EXECUTIVE SUMMARY As an advertising agency Ogilvy Mather India has a high ranking in the Indian advertising industry. The paper studies the company, its services and its place in the industry. The paper analyses and defines its market structure as one of oligopoly. It is seen how the state of the economy effects a large company like OM and how monetary and fiscal policies affects its revenue and expenditure. By studying the market structure, economy and the companies driving forces a competitive strategy for the next four years is suggested in order to give OM a better stand in the market. . INTRODUCTION The aim of this project is to study the economic environment of the Advertising Industry in India using the company Ogilvy Mather as the main focus. The various economics aspects which affect a business such as product, value creation, costs, competition, business environment etc will be discussed. An analysis of the market structure define the position of the company and the study of the economy tell us how the company is affected and the best strategy for the chosen company for the next four years will be outlined. 4. OVERVIEW OF BUSINESS: PRODUCT, MARKETS, VALUE CREATION 4. 1 About the Company: Ogilvy Mather is one of the largest marketing communication networks in the world, dealing with multinational and national brands in a number of regions. It is a subsidiary of the WPP group and has numerous offices all around the world; however in this project the main focus is on the Ogilvy Mather (O M) Indian branch. O M was the first advertising agency India, having been in the business for the past 80 years it provides the core service of building and nurturing enduring brands (â€Å"Ogilvy†, n. . ). 4. 2 The Main Product: Ogilvy Mather started as an advertising agency providing the basic services of advertising but today the services provided by the company include Advertising, Direct Marketing, Public Relations and Activation. Ogilvy Activation Includes services in the so called non-traditional area of advertising. As of 2004 advertising by the company recorded around 70% of the revenue i n India (â€Å"Ogilvy Mather India Ltd†, n. d. ). 4. 3 How Does it Create Value: The company creates value in two ways: Reduction of transaction costs – When compared with other companies O M follows a strategy called the 360 Degree Branding approach. This approach covers all aspects marketing communications; it’s when all media contribute towards the campaign and the building of a brand. It provides all the key services the companies are looking thus saving the companies the trouble of having to approach different agencies for different services. This saves the clients through economies of coordination, reducing costs of searching for specific skills and services. Changing perceptions of perceived benefits – Ogilvy Mather is a brand name that has been around for more than half a century. Over the years it has helped build some of the most successful brands in India e. g. Asian Paints, Cadbury etc. Since the main function of the company is advertising its influences customer behaviour by changing perception. Having a client base which included companies like Hutch, Perfetti etc has positioned the company to be one of high repute, hence clients perceive benefits of higher value. 4. 4 Market Dimensions: The Indian advertising market has grown considerably over the years, the 13,200 crore (13. 2 billion) industry has grown from the initial slump in the beginning of the decade, it saw a 14. 1% growth over 2005 (â€Å"Ad Lib: On campaign trail† n. d. ), the industry saw a double digit growth over the next two years. In 2007 the Total electronic media revenue alone was 6100 crore (6. 1 billion) (â€Å"Budget 2007-2008†, n. d. ). Ogilvy Mather have a large market in India, however it enjoys a global presence as well. It offers creative and non creative services to the company worldwide. Some of its international projects include offshore design and packaging work, commercials for Perfetti’s products and creative work for international brands like Coca-Cola, Fanta, Sprite and Singer. 5. BUSINESS COSTS IN THE SHORT AND LONG RUN Brand building or advertising agencies like most other businesses, are multiple –product firms. †An Agency’s costs may depend on how their clients allocate their advertising budgets across media and there is considerable variation in media mix among agencies. †(Schmalensee, Silk Bojanek, 1983). Difference in media mix contributes to a great extent to how different agencies can lower their costs of production. The advertising and brand building industry is one which is labour intensive in nature. In such firms value creation is knowledge, skill and creativity intensive and is delivered by highly creative and skilled employees. As a marketing communications firm OM create value by building the non tangible aspect of the brand. Output and quality in such a firm depends on human creativity and ideas. It is the understanding of brand positioning by the human element that determines the quality and effectiveness of the product. Typically an advertising firm would incur costs such as television billings, costs incurred on business publications, point of purchase, newspapers, internet, direct mail farm publications etc. Changing the scale of business: Changing the scale of production in the short run would mean being able to change the variable factors of production. In the case of Ogilvy Mather changing the scale of production in the short run would mean being able to increase the duration of its contracts, bring in more skilled people like creative designers, copywriters etc. It would take the company a period of three to four months to change its scale of production in the short run. In the long run Ogilvy Mather are able to increase the number of contracts and open new segments e. g. Ogilvy One. In the long run the company enjoys a constant return to scale. Since it receives commission and fees directly in the same proportion as the number of contracts it undertakes the returns to scale is also in the same proportion. It would take the company more than a year to change its scale in the long run. 6. MARKET STRUCTURE: COMPETITORS REGULATORS To analyse the market structure in which the company operates we use Michel Porters five force model. Michael Porter’s â€Å"Five Forces† Analysis Model 6. 1 barriers to entry: Investment – In a large industry like advertising where there are many big players who command more than 50% of the market share it becomes difficult for another company to enter, since a large investment will be required. Highly skilled and creative employees – In a business like advertising a highly skilled, intellectual and creative team of people is required. It is not only difficult to find and employee such a team of people but is also difficult to compensate them as employees of such high calibre are at the higher end of the pay scale. Brand name and customer loyalty – OM have been in the advertising business for more than 70 years, they have created a power brand of high repute. They command high customer loyalty and provide an array of high quality services thus making it difficult for new entrants. Network effect – The advertising industry is one in which there is a high level of business networking since most of the clients are other bigger companies. Competing players may have difficulties entering a market where a strong player like OM has already captured a significant user base. Sunk costs – Sunk costs cannot be recovered if a firm decides to leave the market, they therefore increase the risk and deter entry. Acquiring big companies: In an industry like advertising those companies stand to gain who get the so called bigger deals, i. e. agencies with big companies like Cadbury or Hutch as clients command a better position in the market, it is difficult for new companies to gain such clients. . 2 Rivals: competition among existing companies In India many companies exist in the advertising industry, however only a few big companies are able to provide the service on the scale and complexity which can be comparable with that of OM. India has a lot of Advertising agencies but only a few big companies contribute to the total revenue, Ogilvy Mather recorded the highest capital billings of 7425. 78 million while Saatchi Saatc hi was the lowest at 937. 54 million (â€Å"top Indian advertising agencies†, n. d. ) 6. 3 Bargaining power of buyers Big companies like Cadbury, Coca-Cola, Asian Paints etc are clients or buyers of the services the advertising agencies provide. Since they are looking for top quality services and Brand building, costs are but a secondry issue to them. They have a good bargaining power. However the advertising agency like Ogilvy Mather have a brand name and a high reputation hence they also have a good posiiton where they can negociate 6. 4 Bargaining power of suppliers the suppliers would include all forms of media, cretive designers on contracts, technology suppliers, studio works etc. OM have a good bargaining power since they are one of the big player in the market. 6. 5 threat of substitute Ogilvy Mather offer high quality services but with other huge players like Lowe Lintas, McCann-Ericsson etc operating in the market there is always a threat to the company, when clients untertake mergers or acquisitions they may seek another agency to do their work e. g. OM were kept in the avcume when one of its big clients Hutch was in the process of being taken over by a bigger player Vodafone. 6. 6 Market Structure Ogilvy Mather will be considered as an Oligopoly. In spite of Advertising being a monopolistic competition in this case it is an Oligopoly, the reason being that its is a very large company and faces stiff competition from not more than 7-8 companies, it is these big companies that contribute to more than 75% of the industries revenue. 7. MACROECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT (1): THE BUSINESS CYCLE 7. 1The business cycle The Indian economy in currently in the upswing phase of the business cycle (â€Å"3 ‘I’s’ for 2008†, 2008) the three reasons cited for the Indian economy to e in the upswing phase are: Investment – it has propelled the growth performance of the past four years, building on a solid foundation of consumption spending. â€Å"Gross fixed capital formation, a measure of the increase in productive capacity of the economy, crossed 30 per cent of GDP for the first time, after hovering in the high 20s for several quarters. † (â€Å"3 ‘Iâ €™s’ for 2008†, 2008) The Corporate sector has seen growth in productivity and profitability under the combined impetus of consolidation and capacity expansion. A growth of country’s infrastructure also suggests that the economy is in an upswing, Mega power plant bids by the Tata Group and the Reliance Energy vouch for the same. Although the economy is in an upswing it is facing some short term fluctuations, as we can see in the diagram below than the real GDP has fallen in the 3rd Q of 2007-2008 as compared to the 1st Q, since the US economy has slowed down it appears to be a trickledown effect (â€Å"Can India cope with economic slowdown†, 2008). (â€Å"The Real Economy†, 2008) 7. 2Inflation In an economy all companies are affected by the business cycle, as the economy is in the upswing the country is faced with the challenge of high inflation, Inflation in India currently stands at 7. 4% (â€Å"Macroeconomic and Monetary Developments in 2007-08†, 2008). At present the decline in consumer spending is taking its toll on the fortunes of the advertising industry. Inflation has forced agencies to settle for abysmally low margins. Compared to last year, margins have shrunk over 60% this year (â€Å"Blame it on Inflation, Ad margins shrink 60%†, 2008 8. MACROECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT (2): MACRO POLICY, INTEREST RATES TAXATION The government of any country helps control the economy through it fiscal and monetary policies, the main areas of interest are the interest rates and the taxation. Interest rates and takes affect all business in the economy. 8. 1 Interest Rates According to reports by the Reserve Bank of India the prevailing interest rate is around 6%. The Federation of Indian Chambers for Commerce and Industry (FICCI) blamed the tight monetary policy of the government for the slowdown of industrial growth. The FICCI has suggested a downward revision of interest rates, this would help in the stimulation of demand and would ease the cost pressure on the manufacturing sector (â€Å"FICCI blames high interest rates for industrial slowdown†, 2008). When interest rates are hiked investment is reduced by big companies as a result of the trickledown affect other companies are affected. In the case of OM when its clients e. g. Lenovo reduces its investments it will slowdown and as a result it will squeeze its margins with OM. 8. 2 Taxation Some sectors in the economy seem to be under a greater tax burden than the other, e. . the telecom industry in India is facing various kinds of levies and tax (â€Å"Telecom Firms and Budget 2008-2009†, n. d. ), they in turn may cut costs and adjust their finances to shoulder this tax burden and in turn reduce their expenditure on advertising, in such a case companies like OM stand to lose. 9. INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENT: GLOBAL BUSINESS CONDITION S AND EXCHANGE RATES Ogilvy Mather India has expanded its boundaries and now have international clients as well, some of its foreign clients include Perfetti (Italy), Lenovo (China), Coke (US). Having foreign clients means involvement of the exchange rate. Currently the Indian Rupee is trading for 42. 77 US dollars. Ogilvy Mather do commercials as well as other creative work for these brands hence costs and payments are affected by the exchange rate. If the Indian rupee were to appreciate then it would be dearer for OM’s international clients. Trend of the Indian Rupee against the US Dollar 10. THE DRIVING FORCES 10. 1Internet Advertising – today the internet accounts for a large portion of the advertising budget, it is easily accessible and convenient. It has become a part of the media mix for all advertising agencies and can now be considered as one of the driving forces. 10. 2Globalisation – With companies going global they are trying to reach out to a larger and more diverse market, if the key message of the company and its USP is not carried to the public in a proper manner the brand could be affected. OM not only does advertising for such companies but also does brand building, public relations etc. More over is has to always reinvent is creative aspect to meet global standards. 0. 3Creative Team with international exposure – advertising, promotion, brand building etc cannot be effectively achieved without a creative team, creative designers, art directors etc all form part of this creative team. This intangible aspect of the business is called talent and creativity. 10. 4Clients and the general public – today customers and consumers rule the market, it’s all about what they want and what they think , studying consumer behaviour is important for any company. Advertisers always have to keep the attitude and sentiment of the public in mind when creating ads. 10. 5The state of the economy – the state of the economy is also major driving force since the income and expenditure of companies like OM depend on how much their clients are able and willing to spend on advertising and promotion. Companies make such budgeting decisions based on the state of the economy. 11. COMPETITIVE STRATEGY FOR THE NEXT 4 YEARS The country is currently in the upswing stage, the Advertising industry has come a long way where growth is concerned. It recorded a 22% growth over the previous year (â€Å"India to increase advertising expenses by 2010, Assocham, 2007), in the past 6-8 months advertising rates have risen from 30 to 40 percent (â€Å"Empires rise again on the news-stands of India†, 2008). Ogilvy Mather are among the top three advertising agencies in India and it is doing a lot to maintain its position. Ogilvy Mather have combined with GroupM to form an even bigger Out of Home Business, it is the largest outdoor planning and buying specialist group in India called Kinetic (â€Å"Ogilvy Mather consolidates outdoor business with Kinetic†, 2006). Ogilvy Mather Advertising has also taken upon its shoulders the task of building up the momentum for the much hyped about Indian Premier League (IPL) with a series of Ads (â€Å"The big branding game plays out on IPL pitches†, 2008). Since it appears that the company is still growing it should 1) focus on consolidation and opening of new branches there by trying to stay at the top position by reducing competition. ) Now that OM India has gained a foreign market it should try to increase the number of foreign clients and expand its markets overseas as well. This will increase its international exposure. 3) In the case of OM the city Bangalore in India has become the global hub for Lenovo, similarly the company should try and acquire big brands as clients and make the country the global hub for that particular brand. Since outsourcing has become the buzz word it could also open a branch that does creative work and designing for international companies there by acquiring more foreign clients. With increasing production and setting up of new companies in the economy there is always a market for brand promotion, advertising and marketing hence OM have a promising future, however it will continuously have to reinvent itself to suit customer needs and combat competition. 12. REFERENCES 1. Business Standards, (2008), 3 ‘i’s’ for 2008, (2008) Retrieved on May 7, 2008 from business-standard. com/common/news_article. php? leftnm=outlookbKeyFlag=BOautono=309286 2. Eocnomic Times, (2006), Ad-lib: On the Campaign Trail, (2006) Retrieved on April 5, 2008 from http://www1. economictimes. indiatimes. om/Opinion/Todays_Features/The_Learning_Curve/Ad-lib_On_the_campaign_trail/articleshow/msid-1863434,curpg-1. cms 3. Economy Watch, Telecom Firms and Budget 2008-09, Retrieved on May 28, 2008 from economywatch. com/budget/india-budget-2008/telecom-firms. html 4. Edgar-online, Weekly Performance of INR versus USD, Retrieved on May 24, 2008 from http://content. edgar-onl ine. com/edgar_conv_img/2008/04/07/0000950123-08-003899_Y45074PY4507453. GIF 5. IndiaTelivision, (2007), Budget 2007-08, (2007) Retrieved on April 2, 2008 from indiantelevision. com/headlines/y2k7/feb/feb306. htm 6. bef, Ogilvy Mather India Ltd. , Retrieved on April 2, 2008 from ibef. org/download/Ogilvy_Mather. pdf 7. IndiaTelevision, Top Indian Advertising Agencies, Retrieved on April 2, 2008 from indiantelevision. com/industryresources/adagencies/top50_adagencies. htm 8. India Business, (2007), India to increase advertising expense by 2010, Assocham, (2007), retrieved on May 26, 2008 from F:DocumentsECONOMICSstats bout economyIndia to increase advertising expenses by 2010 Assocham. mht 9. MagIndia, (2008), Blame it on inflation, ad margins shrink 60%, (2008) Retrieved on May 14, 2008, from F:DocumentsECONOMICSstats bout economyMAGINDIA Blame it on inflation, ad margins shrink 60%. mht 10. Ogilvy Mather India, retrieved on March 28, 2008 from ogilvyindia. com/home/home. asp 11. RediffNews, (2008), Can India cope with economic slowdown? , (2008), Retrieved on May 29, 2008 from F:DocumentsECONOMICSstats bout economyCan India cope with economic slowdown. mht 12. Reserve Bank of India, Macroeconomic and Monetary Development in 2007-08, (2008), retrieved on April 7, 2008 from http://rbi. org. in/scripts/BS_PressReleaseDisplay. aspx? rid=18233 13. The Hindu News, (2008), FICCI blames high interest rates for Industrial slowdown, (2008), retrieved on May 22, 2008 from hindu. com/thehindu/holnus/006200805251231. htm 14. The Independent, (2008), Empire rise again on the news stands of India, (2008) Retrieved on May 27, 2008 from independent. co. uk/news/media/empires-rise-again-on-the-newsstands-of-india-768415. html 15. Schmalensee R, Silk A J, Bojanek R, (1983) The Impact of Scale and Media on Advertising Agency Costs, Journal Of Business pg 453-475, The University Of Chicago Press.

Disposing Nuclear Waste in Ocean Trenches

Disposing Nuclear Waste in Ocean Trenches It seems to be a perennial suggestion: lets put our most hazardous wastes into the deepest sea trenches. There, they will be drawn down into the Earths mantle well away from children and other living things. Usually, people are referring to high-level nuclear waste, which can be dangerous for thousands of years. This is why the design for the proposed waste facility at Yucca Mountain, in Nevada, is so incredibly stringent. The concept is relatively sound. Just put your barrels of waste in a trench - well dig a hole first, just to be tidy about it - and down they inexorably go, never to bring harm to humanity again. At 1600 degrees Fahrenheit, the upper mantle isnt hot enough to alter the uranium and make it nonradioactive. In fact, its not even hot enough to melt the zirconium coating that surrounds the uranium. But the purpose isnt to destroy the uranium, its to use plate tectonics to take the uranium hundreds of kilometers into the Earths depths where it can naturally decay.   Its an interesting idea, but is it plausible?   Ocean Trenches and Subduction Deep-sea trenches are areas where one plate dives beneath another (the process of subduction) to be swallowed up by the Earths hot mantle. The descending plates extend down hundreds of kilometers where they are not the least bit of a threat. It isnt completely clear whether the plates disappear by being thoroughly mixed with mantle rocks. They may persist there and become recycled through the plate-tectonic mill, but that wouldnt happen for many millions of years.   A geologist might point out that subduction is not really secure. At relatively shallow levels, subducting plates become chemically altered, releasing a slurry of serpentine minerals that eventually erupt in large mud volcanoes on the seafloor. Imagine those spewing plutonium into the sea! Fortunately, by that time, the plutonium would have long since decayed away. Why It Wont Work Even the fastest subduction is very slow - geologically slow. The fastest-subducting location in the world today is the Peru-Chile Trench, running along the west side of South America. There, the Nazca plate is plunging beneath the South America plate at around 7-8 centimeters (or approximately 3 inches) per year. It goes down at about a 30-degree angle. So if we put a barrel of nuclear waste in the Peru-Chile Trench (never mind that its in Chilean national waters), in a hundred years it will move 8 meters - as far away as your next-door neighbor. Not exactly an efficient means of transport.   High-level uranium decays to its normal, pre-mined radioactive state within  1,000-10,000 years.  In 10,000 years, those waste barrels would have moved, at maximum, just .8 kilometers (half a mile). They would also lie only a few hundred meters deep - remember that every other subduction zone is slower than this. After all of that time, they could still be easily dug up by whatever future civilization cares to retrieve them. After all, have we left the Pyramids alone? Even if future generations left the waste alone, the seawater and seafloor life would not, and the odds are good that the barrels would corrode and be breached. Ignoring geology, lets consider the logistics of containing, transporting and disposing of thousands of barrels each year. Multiply the amount of waste (which will surely grow) by the odds of shipwreck, human accidents, piracy and people cutting corners. Then estimate the costs of doing everything right, every time. A few decades ago, when the space program was new, people often speculated that we could launch nuclear waste into space, maybe into the sun. After a few rocket explosions, nobody says that any more: the cosmic incineration model is infeasible. The tectonic burial model, unfortunately, isnt any better. Edited by Brooks Mitchell

Australian organisations must adopt sustainability reporting in the Essay

Australian organisations must adopt sustainability reporting in the 21st century - Essay Example Sustainability reporting in Australia is voluntary, meaning that the organizations are not bound by law to report it in their financial statements. So, the purpose of this essay is to emphasize on the fact that Australian companies should adapt sustainability reporting in the present century and to establish why and how the organizations should meet the requirements of sustainability reporting and how will it be profitable to them. Sustainability reporting involves the display of a company’s economic, social and environmental performance and its impacts through the company’s annual reports. There are various reasons as to why a company should report its performance. Sustainability reporting helps in establishing a stronger trust relationship with the stakeholders. The stakeholders view the company as being honest about their actions and performance, thus it strengthens the image of an organization as being sincere and considerate towards the environment it operates in. The key towards establishing strong relations is not to report the good part only but the discrepancies as well; it leads the stakeholders like employees to trust their employers and execute hard work to enhance the performance of the company (Blackburn, 2007). Such actions give the sense of legitimate reporting of corporate activities. This ensures acceptance by the key stakeholders of the company especially towards the management decisions and activities that may be sometimes seen as of compromising nature (Schaltegger, Bennett and Burritt, 2006). By incorporating sustainability reporting into the strategic designing of an organization, a company can link all its operations to achieve those goals that are expected of it. Various operational benefits can also be derived through implementing sustainability reporting. The various costs that are incurred because of the irresponsible use of materials

Police in the United States of America Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Police in the United States of America - Essay Example The police aim to give a safe and secure environment to the public. In order to achieve this objective they are bound to maintain peace in public. They are aimed to save the residents' rights and public turbulences. The police also intend to stop those situations which may end up in public violation and disorder. Police ensures the public of safe and sound environment and expects the public to cooperate with them. In collaboration with other bodies, the police sketch out local safety policies which plan to encourage safer societies, decrease and combat offenses and conflicts, and promote comfort in the localities concerned. Hence if the duties of the police are to be analyzed it can be said that the role of police is to enforce law in such a manner that the public peace is maintained. This is because if law is enforced on the citizens the police department may get an aggressive reply. Thus the police should work according to the requirements of the public. They should take care of th e tiny things which the public need. They should handle situations of violence with care and heed. For e.g. if an angry mob is protesting against a certain situation then the police should not directly use aggressive methods against that mob. This is because if aggressive methods are used against them the public law and order situation could be disturbed. I.e. seeing the brutality of police against that mob another mob could possibly arise and revolt. Similarly in other situations the police department should be careful in tackling the problems of the public. Police officers in the United States are the most severe and troublesome reason of the human rights violation in the state. The infringements continue all around the country, in countryside, suburban, and metropolitan regions of the state, done by a range of law enforcement workers as well as local and state police, sheriff's sections, and federal forces. Police have occupied in unwarranted shelling, cruel beatings, deadly choking, and unreasonably rough behavior. Whereas the quantity of continually offensive officers on any force is in general small, the authorities in charge, together with law enforcement managers in addition to local and central government management frequently fail to take action with certainty to control or penalize such steps. A faction of the police officers is worsening the image of the whole department. And as mentioned above it is quite difficult to bring this faction to justice. Although the other faction of the police officers are quite working according to their standards still there is a need that corruption and racism is removed from the police department in the U.S.A. However it can be said that to a certain extent the police department of the USA has been successful. But as mentioned above the police department in the USA also has some flaws which need to be rectified. As the police are the main law enforcement agency it is their duty to maintain public order in the state. However the stance of the police should not be to enforce laws on the civilian but to maintain the situation of public law and order. If police is taking steps that are causing indiscipline then they must change their course of work. Their aim is

True Educations Begins at Home Essay Example for Free

True Educations Begins at Home Essay People learn everything they know from some sort of influence. Religious groups are influenced by preachers to believe what they want. Students are influenced by teachers on what to learn. North Koreans are influenced by Kim Jong Il to do exactly as he wants. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee’s only book, Scout, a main female character has to be taught the hard way. She sees a man prosecuted and killed because of his skin color for something he clearly could not have done. She learns that prejudice is abused every day, even past times of slavery. Scout’s main motivation for not being prejudice is her father, Atticus, who defends the black man, Tom Robinson, in a clearly biased trial. Although influenced to think that she should hate black people, her true education comes from home. When one first learns to speak, who are their words learned from? They, typically, learn from their parents. If someone acts poorly, they are usually punished at home. Outer influences can affect someone’s decision to do something wrong, and, if brought up well, this person will not make these poor decisions. Scout is enticed to hate black people, but Atticus teaches her why humans are all equal. Jem, Scout’s older brother, learns as he matures that one should accept people for who they are. After Tom gets accused of being guilty, Jem even cries. In essence, Jem and Scout are both taught from home how to act throughout life. When Scout begins talking to Miss Maudie and Dill, she hears wild stories of the man who is locked inside his house for fifteen years, and once he is in his thirties, he attacks his father with a pair of scissors. This man is Arthur â€Å"Boo† Radley. Atticus catches his children and Dill trying to lure him out of the house and teaches them that not everything they hear is true (although, this rumor is true. The children quit provoking Boo for a while, but near the end of the book, they meet him on person after he saves their lives from a drunken man. They learn that Atticus was right in saying that not everything that one hears is true. I have learned nearly all I know from my mother and father. They have taught me basic skills, as well as proper etiquette. I have had many mentors in my life, and I believe that my parents are the best ones I have and will have. They have taught me all I need to know in my life from home.

Story about Intangible Things Essay -- Autobiography Essay, Personal Na

Intangibility used to be a focus of mine. I lived for the things that were fleeting and impossible to categorize. I was free of the constraints of anything and everything, from language to thought. I found beauty in the things you could not touch and could not even grasp your mind around fully. Now I feel so far removed, I need something to grab on to. I need something I can touch and know is real, solid, and there--something permanent. It is like being stuck in an Impressionist painting. Nothing is solid because everything is momentary and instantaneous. That was the sort of thing I once reveled in. However, things are too muddled now for enjoying intangibility. I simply want comfort and firmness. I need a rock to hold on to or I am afraid I cannot come back. The air was particularly sticky that day. That sticky air was also accompanied by a sticky feeling--a type of feeling that was foreign to me until that moment. I sauntered up the brick steps and doubtfully opened the front door to my house. â€Å"Sweetie... Come upstairs,† said my mom in a voice that was all too familiar. The word sweetie, when used by my mother, never meant good news. I walked up the stairs. There were fourteen of them, and I walked slow, taking in each and every small step. Eventually, I reached the top. I sat down on my bed indian-style and waited for the news I expected but did not want to hear. â€Å"Kacie, your father and I are getting a divorce.† When those words finally came out of her mouth, it was as if I could have read the dictionary one hundred times and still be at a loss for words. All I felt was gaping holes where consciousness should be. It was like when you go to see a movie and you come out a few hours later blinking, lost, and wondering to you... ... is constantly radiating with happiness. The rain cloud that was lurking over my dad’s head for the past year has now been replaced with rainbow. And me, well, strange memories and waves of nostalgia tainted with deja vu have been hitting me frequently. Sometimes, I long for the days that my dad, mom, sister, and I would spend together--all four us, one happy family. I could try to blame it on the lack of sleep or nourishment, but I actually think I’ve developed the â€Å"Peter Pan Syndrome,† or rather the â€Å"Peter Pan Syndrome† already encoded within me has simply grown and developed, like a small tumor of now epic proportions. When am I going to let go and truly grow up? Nevertheless, every now and then I look back at my life and come across a blank spot where I lost myself, like skips on a scratched CD. Even though I’m happy, that blank spot never fails to hurt like hell.

Opportunity Is the Key to Success

First of all I feel very happy that we both sides have grasped the opportunity to realize our same goal. That is to win! That is to succeed! We believe opportunity is the key to success. Let me give a definition to words â€Å"opportunity† and â€Å"key† here. Opportunity here only refers to one that we disover, seize and take advantage of. Key is a way to solve a problem. Every lock has a key. Success is a lock that requires several keys to work together. Only when all these keys are equipped, success is achieved. Opportunity is definitely one of these keys. Firstly, Opportunity serves as a starter on the road to success. If one wants to make a difference in a specific area, he should first be given the opportunity to do it. A person, born without legs, can never be the champion of a long distance running, even in special games. A child, who cannot afford to go to school, will never be the top student in class. Secondly, opportunity favors only the prepared. We are here to emphasis the crucial importance of opportunity. That does not mean we are to discount the significance of other keys to success. They are equal of weight. All are indispensible. Preparation, like our endeavor, our efforts, all lays a foundation to reach the opportunity. Thirdly, Man proposes and god disposes. Opportunity is essential when one is qualified. Discovered by Bo Le, Red-rabbit Horse is lucky enough to be the most well-known swift house; Thanks to the eastwind, Zhou Yu won the Chibi Battle;Coming across the invention of the Internet, Google becomes global business giant. If it were not for the opportunities they meet, seize, and take advantage of, Red-rabbit horse would just be a normal house, Zhouyu would doom to lose the battle, and Google would never come into existance. On the road to success, without opportunity is like fish without water,birds without wings, clock without hands, lock() without key. Opportunity is the key to success. Let us find opportunity for ourselves, seize opportunity by ourselves, and create opportunity of ourselves!

American Revolution the war, the article of confederation and the constitution

The paper discuses the United States of America road to self governance from hands of British colonialism. First it looks on the war between the United States America and Britain. The war took place in late 18th century when the thirteen states of America colonialist joined forces to overthrow the British emperor. Although the states militiamen were untrained and used simple weapons, they were determined to topple down Britain from America. The paper also focuses on how the militiamen though inexperienced in war, caused sleepless night to the British army.With time the war seemed unending until reached a point where a deal had to be reached to end the war. The war was ended with a deal being reached between the United States of America and the Britain. A Paris treaty signed in France between the parties in war ended the stalemate. The article of confederation is looked into. This document (the articles of confederation), outlined the rules governing the operations of the united thirt een states. The article outlined the powers of the confederation government and how the states had to relate to each other.The strengths and weakness of the article is outlined in the paper. Article of confederation was replaced by constitution soon after America attained her independence. At the end the paper compares the American Revolution with other world revolutions such as, French revolution, the Russian and the Iranian revolutions. The British army and the militiamen During the last half of 18th century, the thirteen colonies of North America overthrew the governance of British emperor and merged to become the nation of the â€Å"United States of America†.The colonies regrouped to form one self governing state that fought with British army. Americans lacked trained army and each group of the colonies relied on militia groups which had simple arms and slight knowledge on fighting for defense. Although, this militia had no fighting skills, their high number gave them an advantage over the few British soldiers in the battle fields. â€Å"In 1775, America established a regular continental army to give more support to the militia in battles. The British army was about 36,000 men, but within the course of war, Britain hired more soldiers from Germany† (Savas, 2006).The combined army was huge, but its strength was weakened by the virtue of being spread across large regions of Canada and Florida. The revolutionary war on North America started when the commander in charge of British army sent his men to seize ammunition held by the militiamen in Massachusetts. On arrival, they found that the Minutemen (a group of men from the colonial militia) had been alerted of unexpected visit by the British army. This group of militia (minutemen) consisted of young and more mobile men who were ready to fight British army any minute they are called to do so.A battle started between the two sides with the British army killing a number of militia. As the war conti nued, a great damage was inflicted on British army, as thousands of militia fought them, before reinforcement was brought to help them to prevent more damages. On their way to capture Canada from British emperor, the militiamen were grouped into two groups with each having a leader. The group lad by Richard Montgomery with more than 1500 men attacked northern Canada forcing the governor of Quebec to escape. The second group led by Arnold, was not a success because many men succumbed to smallpox.Although Montgomery was killed, the groups after merging again, held the city of Quebec until British war ships arrived to get hold of the siege. The militia played a cat and mouse game to the British army. They could engage the British army in fighting, retreat and the came again when the army was not aware. The militiamen were determined, courageous and ready to overthrow the British emperor at all cost for their independence. Paris Treaty In 1777, France and her allies (Spain and Dutch) en tered in the war to support the Americans.Her involvement proved decisive when the second British army surrendered to her naval army. â€Å"As a result a treaty had to be signed to end the American war and recognize the sovereignty of United States of America over the territory bounded by what is now called Canada to the north, Florida to the south, and Mississippi river to the west† (Bobrick, 1998) As the political support of war plunged, the British prime minister resigned in 1782 leading to the house of common to vote in favor of ending war with Americas.Signing of preliminary peace articles followed in Paris but the war ended when the Paris treaty was signed between America, France and Britain in 1783. The American-French alliance proved too strong to British army. As a result, British government together with American representatives in Europe began peace negotiations to stop the alliance against Britain. In the negations Britain negotiator was supposed to acknowledge th at he was negotiating with American states not colonies.â€Å"First the French and Spanish military were to besiege fortress of Gibraltar, which was the seaway connecting Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea† (Burnett, 1941). What followed is that the alliance was weakened and France relentlessly accepted a preliminary peace treaty between Britain and United states which was formalized later. The treaty was signed in September 1783 despite British parliamentary protest of some of agreements contained in the deal. The Article of Confederation â€Å"The article of confederation was the governing constitution of thirteen independent and sovereign states style â€Å"(United States of America)† (Ward, 1952).The article was proposed in 1777 and ratified in 1781 uniting the states into the â€Å"United States of America† as a union with confederation government. The article gave the states the power to all government functions not posed by the central government. The article stipulated the rules for operation of the â€Å"united states† confederation. The article allowed the confederation to make war, negotiate agreements and settle maters concerning the western territories. However, the confederation had no power to mint coins or borrow with or outside United States. Each state had its own currency.The main reason for drafting the article was to provide a plan for securing the freedom, sovereignty and independence of United State. The article stipulated that the confederation to be known as â€Å"the united States of America†, each stated to retain its freedom, independence and sovereignty. The article also established the United States as league of states united and freedom of movement across the states. In the article; each state was allocated one vote in congress of confederation, the central government was only the one to conduct foreign relations and declare war.The article further stated that; expenditures by the United Stat es would be paid by funds raised by state legislatures, defined the powers of central government and the admission of new state was to be approved by nine states. The article also mandated a committee to be a government when the congress was in session. In addition, the article reaffirmed that the confederation accepts war debt incurred by congress before the articles. Finally it declared that the article was final and only could be altered by approval of congress.Some of the weaknesses of the article includes; power of central government was weak because each states had powers, there was no balance between the large and small states in legislative decision making, the congress lacked taxing authority hence could not plan on expenditures, some argued that the provisions of the article were no favorable for effective government, and under the article, congress did not had powers to regulate trade. Its main strength was that it gave direction to the continental army and thus helped to win the American revolutionary war.Ways that the Constitution remedied the flaws in the Articles The article of confederation was replaced by the U. S. constitution which changed the government from confederation to federation. The constitution is the supreme law that outlines the organization of United States of America. Constitution defines that the government has three branches namely; the legislative, an executive branch led by the president and judicial branch headed by Supreme Court. The document also states the powers of each branch and reserves rights of each state, hence establishing United States federal system of government.â€Å"The constitutional reallocation of powers created a new form of government, unprecedented under the sun. Every previous national authority either had been centralized or else had been a confederation of sovereign states. The new American system was neither one nor the other; it was a mixture of both† (Collier, 2007) The constitution estab lished the manner of election and vested all legislative powers to the congress of United States of America which consisted of; senators who headed states and House of Representatives who represented the lower house.The executive branch outlined the qualification of president and also makes provision for the post of vice president. The vice president was given powers to succeed the president incase the president; died, resigned, removed or unable to discharge duties. The constitution requires that there will be one court (supreme), but the congress could create lower courts that judgments are reviewable by the Supreme Court. The constitution sets all the cases and defines who to hear the same. The constitution defined the relationship between the states and the federal government and amongst the state.The state government was prohibited from discriminating against citizens of other states. There must be fair treatment to all citizens regardless of which state he/she comes from. Lega l basis of freedom of movement and travel amongst the states was laid in the constitution. This provision was not taken more seriously as it was the case in the time of articles of confederation, where crossing of states lines was costly. Within the constitution, there provision for creations of new states and the congress is given the power to make rules concerning the disposal of federal property.The United States is required to allow each state to have a republican government and protect the states from all attacks. The constitution and laws of states were to set in such a way that it did not conflict with the laws of the federal government and incase of conflict, judges were supposed to honor federal laws over those of states. Constitution addressed the freedoms of; religion, speech, press, assembly and petition. States were give were right to keep and maintain militia and individuals to poses arms. Government was prohibited from using private homes to keep soldiers without cons ent of owners.The constitution required that; a warrant of arrest be issued, prohibited repeated trial, guaranteed a speedy trial for criminals and forbade excessive bail or fines. How was revolutionary revolution The American Revolutionary was actuary a revolution, there was change of power and change in organizational structures. American wanted a change; wanted to be represented in the parliament, wanted to get benefits of the tax they paid etc. It was the result of the war and signing of Paris treaty that Britain moved from America and America was declared independent.This is a political revolution where a political regime was â€Å"overthrown and thereby transformed by a popular movement in an irregular, extra constitutional and/or violent fashion†(Ward, 1952) The U. S. constitution replaced the articles of confederation, which change government from confederation to federal one. Both the French, American, Russian, and Iranian revolution were accompanied by turmoil and b lood shade. The French revolution was transformation of government from anarchy to a form based on reason, nationalist, citizenship and inalienable rights.Russian revolution was made to change the nature of society and transform the state with replacement of Tsarist autocracy with Soviet Union The Iranian revolution transformed Iran from a monarchy to an Islamic republic. In general all the revolution involves transformation of government from one form to another, although American underwent both government transformation and change of land ownership. Reference Bobrick, Benson (1998). Angel in the Whirlwind: The Triumph of the American Revolution. Penguin, paperback reprint Burnett, Edmund Cody (1941).The Continental Congress: A Definitive History of the Continental Congress from Its Inception in 1774 to March, 1789 Collier, C. (2007) Decision in Philadelphia: The Constitutional Convention of 1787. New York: Random House. Savas, Theodore, P. and Dameron, J. David (2006). A Guide to the Battles of the American Revolution, New York. Ward, Christopher (1952). The War of the Revolution: History of land battles in North America, 2, New York: Macmillan. Greene, Jack P. (1987). Introduction. The American Revolution, Its Character and Limits. New York University Press: New York.

Loanwords From French, German, Latin, and Spanish

Loanwords From French, German, Latin, and Spanish On the eve of the First World War, an editorial in the Berlin Deutsche Tageszeitung argued that the German language, coming direct from the hand of God, should be imposed on men of all colors and nationalities. The alternative, the newspaper said, was unthinkable: Should the English language be victorious and become the world language the culture of mankind will stand before a closed door and the death knell will sound for civilization. . . .English, the bastard tongue of the canting island pirates, must be swept from the place it has usurped and forced back into the remotest corners of Britain until it has returned to its original elements of an insignificant pirate dialect.(quoted by James William White in A Primer of the War for Americans. John C. Winston Company, 1914) This sabre-rattling reference to English as the bastard tongue was hardly original. Three centuries earlier, the headmaster of St. Pauls School in London, Alexander Gil, wrote that since the time of Chaucer the English language had been defiled and corrupted by the importation of Latin and French words: [T]oday we are, for the most part, Englishmen not speaking English and not understood by English ears. Nor are we satisfied with having begotten this illegitimate progeny, nourished this monster, but we have exiled that which was legitimateour birthrightpleasant in expression, and acknowledged by our forefathers. O cruel country!(from Logonomia Anglica, 1619, quoted by Seth Lerer in Inventing English: A Portable History of the Language. Columbia University Press, 2007) Not everyone agreed. Thomas De Quincey, for example, regarded such efforts to malign the English language as the blindest of human follies: The peculiar, and without exaggeration we may say the providential, felicity of the English language has been made its capital reproachthat, whilst yet ductile and capable of new impressions, it received a fresh and large infusion of alien wealth. It is, say the imbecile, a bastard language, a hybrid language, and so forth. . . . It is time to have done with these follies. Let us open our eyes to our own advantages.(The English Language, Blackwoods Edinburgh Magazine, April 1839) In our own time, as suggested by the title of John McWhorters recently published linguistic history*, were more likely to boast about our magnificent bastard tongue. English has unashamedly borrowed words from more than 300 other languages, and (to shift metaphors) theres no sign that it plans to close its lexical borders any time soon. French Loan Words Over the years, the English language has borrowed a great number of French words and expressions. Some of this vocabulary has been so completely absorbed by English that speakers might not realize its origins. Other words and expressions have retained their Frenchnessa certain je ne sais quoi which speakers tend to be much more aware of (although this awareness does not usually extend to actually pronouncing the word in French).   German Loan Words in English English has borrowed many words from German. Some of those words have become a natural part of everyday English vocabulary (angst, kindergarten, sauerkraut), while others are primarily intellectual, literary, scientific (Waldsterben, Weltanschauung, Zeitgeist), or used in special areas, such as gestalt in psychology, or aufeis and loess in geology. Some of these German words are used in English because there is no true English equivalent: gemà ¼tlich, schadenfreude. Latin Words and Expressions in English Just because our English language doesnt come from Latin doesnt mean all our words have a Germanic origin. Clearly, some words and expressions are Latin, like ad hoc. Others, e.g., habitat, circulate so freely that were not aware theyre Latin. Some came into English when Francophone Normans invaded Britain in 1066. Others, borrowed from Latin, have been modified. Spanish Words Become Our Own Many Spanish loanwords have entered the English vocabulary. As noted, some of them were adopted into the Spanish language from elsewhere before they were passed on to English. Although most of them retain the spelling and even (more or less) the pronunciation of Spanish, they are all recognized as English words by at least one reference source.

Text Features in Non-Fiction Informational Texts

Text Features in Non-Fiction Informational Texts Important tools to help students to understand and access information in informational texts are the text features. Text features are both ways in which the authors and editors make the information easier to understand and access, as well as explicit means of supporting the content of the text through illustrations, photographs, charts, and graphs. Using text features is an important element of developmental reading, which teaches students to use these parts to understand and comprehend the content of the text Text features are also part of most states high-stakes  tests. Students in fourth grade and above are usually expected to be able to identify the text features common to most non-fiction and informational texts. At the same time, they help struggling readers find and identify the information they are expected to know in content area classes, such as social studies, history, civics, and science. Text Features as Part of the Text Titles, subtitles, headings, and sub-headings are all part of the actual text, used to make the organization of the information in a text explicit. Most textbook publishers, as well as informational text publishers, use these features to make the content easier to understand. Titles The chapter titles in informational texts usually prepare the student to understand the text. Subtitles Subtitles usually immediately follow the title and organize the information into sections. Titles and subtitles often provide the structure for an outline. Headings Headings usually begin a subsection after a subtitle. There are multiple headings for each section. They usually lay out the major points made by the author in each section. Subheading Subheadings also help us understand the organization of the thoughts contained in the section and the relationships of the parts. Title, subtitle, heading, and subheadings could be used to create guided notes, as they are pivotal parts of the authors organization of the text. Text Features That Support Understanding and Navigating the Text Table of Contents Works of fiction seldom have tables of content, whereas works of nonfiction almost always do. At the beginning of the book, they include the titles of chapters as well as subtitles and page numbers. Glossary Found at the back of the book, the glossary provides definitions of special words within the text. Publishers often place words to be found in the back in boldface. Sometimes the definitions are found adjacent to the text, but always in the glossary. Index Also in the back of the book, the index identifies where topics can be found, in alphabetical order. Features That Support the Content of the Text The internet has given us a rich and easily accessible source of images, but they are still incredibly important in understanding the content of information non-fiction texts. While not actually text it would be foolish to assume that our students understand the relationship between the content and the picture on the same page. Illustrations Illustrations are the product of an illustrator or artist and create an image that helps us better understand the content of the text. Photographs A hundred years ago, photographs were difficult to produce in print. Now, digital media make it easy to create and recreate photographs in print. Now they are common in informational texts. Captions Captions are printed below the illustrations and photographs and explain what we are seeing. Charts and Diagrams Unlike illustrations, Charts and Diagrams are created to represent amount, distance, or other information shared in the text. Often they are in the form of graphs, including bar, line, and plot and whisker graphs, as well as pie charts and maps.

Trends of HIV and AIDS in the USA Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Trends of HIV and AIDS in the USA - Assignment Example Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is like any other virus that attacks human beings. The difference is that this virus cannot be eradicated by the immune system. The virus is responsible for weakening the key parts of the human immune system (CD4 cells or T-cells), such that it becomes ineffective in fighting diseases. With time, it causes Acquired Immune Deficiency Symptom (AIDS), at the final stage of HIV infection. With proper treatment, however, a person can keep his/her HIV level low reducing the chances of developing AIDS (Aids.gov, 2014). The condition can be transmitted through unprotected sexual intercourse with an infected person, childbirth (from infected mother) and blood transfusion (exchange of blood from infected individuals). In 1981, United States of America became the first country to recognize HIV and AIDS as a new disease among gay men. However, the origins of HIV and AIDS are suspected to be in Africa (Avert, 2014). Since it was first discovered to the public conscience more than three decades ago to date, the disease has gained a notorious reputation as a feared and controversial disease in modern medicine which leads to it being widely politicized and mystified (Avert, 2014). During the early 1980s, disjointed reports from many states, especially California and New York, claimed that small groups of men, most notably elderly men of Jewish/Mediterranean descent and young African Americans, were contracting a rare and new type of cancer and/or pneumonia. A common factor in the groups of individuals affected by this disease was that they were all homosexuals. In June 1981, the condition was first documented by the United States Center for Disease and Control and Prevention (CDC) and was named as Pneumocystis Pneumonia. By early 1982, the condition had acquired various names including ‘gay-related immune deficiency’, ‘gay-cancer’ and ‘gay compromise syndrome’ with approximately five new cases being reported per week. The acronym AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) was suggested in July 1982 at a meeting in Washington with the CDC first using the term in September 1982. Â  

THE ART OF ENGLISH Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

THE ART OF ENGLISH - Assignment Example By analysing individual works, the varying degrees of creativity and literariness can be observed. To begin, it is important to understand two distinct concepts: creativity and literariness. According to the textbook entitled â€Å"The Art of English: Literary Creativity,† creativity is defined as the skill level of the writer in areas such as â€Å"sounds, words, phrases, and overall linguistic form† (Goodman & O’Halloran, 2006). Literariness is a concept that relates to different kinds of literature such as those that are more traditional like poetry, short stories, and novels. However, literariness can also refer to other types of writing such as blogging, websites, pamphlets, and print media advertising(Goodman & O’Halloran, 2006). These two elements are very important in the process of analysis. According to the textbook entitled â€Å"The Art of English: Everyday Creativity,† in order to perform a complete textual analysis, a linguistic analys is, interactional analysis, and ethnographic analysis are needed (Maybin &Swann, 2006, p.429).Completing each analysis will reveal the elements that make up the degree of creativity within the piece. Linguistic analysis looks at the individual language elements such as metaphors, word usage, repetition, parallelism, etc., (Maybin &Swann, 2006, p.429). ... Each of these also helps a reader to take a more cognitive based approach to the text by looking at how it contributes to the bigger picture of human existence. The poem entitled â€Å"I felt a Funeral, in my Brain,† by Emily Dickinson, is a poem that fits within the literary world. Emily Dickinson, who was born in Massachusetts on the 10th of December 1830, is considered to be one of America’s greatest poets and produced over 1,700 poems throughout her life (Pettinger, 2006). On the surface, it appears to be a poem about a person witnessing their own funeral. Whether or not this is truly the situation is up to the reader. Emily Dickinson is an author whose work often inspires analysis due to the multitude of contextual meanings that may be applied to her work. This quality is known as polysemy (Goodman & O’Halloran, 2006, p.70). The critical analysis of the poem through the inherent clues of the poem’s linguistics may find evidence to support several of t hese theories. This particular poem has sparked multiple analyses. Some readers believe that the poem is about a person’s descent into madness. Others think that it is about writer’s block. Still others claim that the poem is simply about death as the basic context might imply. The fact of the matter is that it does not matter who is right in the end. The myriad of possible meanings speaks to this poem’s high degree of creativity. In terms of linguistics, Dickinson utilizes heavy deviation. Deviation is defined as being when words, phrases, and grammatical structures draw attention themselves (Goodman & O’Halloran, 2006, p.70).This can be seen in the poem by the capitalization of words that are not normally capitalized such as â€Å"Funeral, Brain, Mourners, Sense, Service, Drum, etc†

Reflections Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Reflections - Assignment Example Personally, I agree with Lewis’s saying that the ultimate price that we pay for losing those we love is pain and grief (Tesiik, 2001). I saw my mother, G.M struggling with the pain of losing my stepfather. Thus, she was paying a price for the commitment and love that she accorded my stepfather. Connection to saying. The saying relates well to the scenario of my mother, G.M. As pointed by Lewis, one can go through a series of pain if she loses the object of her love. G.M was indeed in deep love with my stepfather. She went through series of pain and episodes of depression attributable to cognitive response. As a result, she is suffering from Alzheimer and Parkinson’s diseases. Description of manifestations of grief. Grief manifests itself in four different ways including feelings, physical sensations, cognitions, and behaviors. Feelings are often diverse and take different turns (De Magalhà £es, 2009). Sadness is a feeling that many individuals experience after losing the persons that they love or have a close attachment. My mother, G.M experienced this when she lost my stepfather. Individuals often demonstrate sadness by crying. Crying is a gesture that arouses a protective or sympathetic reaction from other individuals. Complicated grief may result if individuals fail to express sadness with or without the accompaniment of tears. I felt sad when I watched G.M writhing in pain. Anxiety is a common feeling that relates to the loss and it often originates from the fear that the bereaved may not be in a position to take care of themselves. There are different ranges of anxiety and can extend from mild to extreme forms of panic attacks. Grief also manifests itself through cognition (Amella, 2004). In most cases, a cognitive response often occurs after an individual develops varied feelings. As I have outlined above, my mother G.M experienced different feelings of sadness, and anxiety after the loss of my stepfather. It is through this happening that I

Mathematics In The Game Of Chess Maths Essay

Mathematics In The Game Of Chess Maths Essay INTRODUCTION: Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64  squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. Each player begins the game with sixteen pieces: one king, one queen, two rooks, two knights, two bishops, and eight pawns. The object of the game is to checkmate the opponents king, whereby the king is under immediate attack (in check) and there is no way to remove or defend it from attack on the next move. The games present form emerged in Europe during the second half of the 15th century, an evolution of an older Indian game, Shatranj. Theoreticians have developed extensive chess strategies and tactics since the games inception. Computers have been used for many years to create chess-playing programs, and their abilities and insights have contributed significantly to modern chess theory. One, Deep Blue, was the first machine to beat a reigning World Chess Champion when it defeated Garry Kasparov in 1997. Matches between individuals took place as early as the 9th century. The tradition of organized competitive chess started during the 16th century. The first official World Chess Champion, Wilhelm Steinitz, claimed his title in 1886; the current World Champion is Viswanathan Anand from India. In addition to the World Championship, there is also the WomenHYPERLINK http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Womens_World_Chess_ChampionshipHYPERLINK http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Womens_World_Chess_Championships World Championship, the Junior World Championship, the World Senior Championship, the Correspondence Chess World Championship, the World Computer Chess Championship, and Blitz and Rapid World Championships (see fast chess). The Chess Olympiad is a popular competition among teams from different nations. Online chess has opened amateur and professional competition to a wide and varied group of players. Chess is a recognized sport of the International Olympic Committee and international chess competi tion is sanctioned by the FIDE. Today, chess is one of the worlds most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments. Some other popular forms of chess are fast chess and computer chess. There are also many chess variants which have different rules, different pieces, different boards, etc. History Iranian chess set, glazed fritware, 12th century. New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. Knights Templar playing chess, Libro de los juegos, 1283. Chess is commonly believed to have originated in North-West India during the Gupta empire, where its early form in the 6th century was known as caturaà ¡Ã‚ ¹Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ga (Sanskrit: four divisions [of the military] infantry, cavalry, elephants, and chariotry, represented by the pieces that would evolve into the modern pawn, knight, bishop, and rook, respectively). The earliest evidence of Chess is found in the neighboring Sassanid Persia around 600 where the game came to be known under the name chatrang. Chatrang is evoked inside three epic romances written in Pahlavi (Medium Persian). Chatrang was taken up by the Muslim world after the Islamic conquest of Persia (633-644) where it was then named shatranj, with the pieces largely retaining their Persian names. In Spanish shatranj was rendered as ajedrez, in Portuguese as xadrez, and in Greek as zatrikion (which directly comes from Persian chatrang), but in the rest of Europe it was replaced by versions of the Persian shÄ h (king ), which was familiar as an exclamation and became the English words check and chess. Murray theorized that this change happened from Muslim traders coming to European seaports with ornamental chess kings as curios before they brought the game of chess. The game reached Western Europe and Russia by at least three routes, the earliest being in the 9th century. By the year 1000 it had spread throughout Europe. Introduced into the Iberian Peninsula by the Moors in the 10th century, it was described in a famous 13th-century manuscript covering shatranj, backgammon, and dice named the Libro de los juegos. Another theory contends that chess arose from the game xiangqi (Chinese Chess) or one of its predecessors, although this has been contested. ___________________________________________________ Mathematics In The Game Of Chess Legend has it that the game was invented by a mathematician in India who elicited a huge reward for its creation. The King of India was so impressed with the game that he asked the mathematician to name a prize as reward. Not wishing to appear greedy, the mathematician asked for one grain of rice to be placed on the first square of the chess board, two grains on the second, four on the third and so on. The number of grains of rice should be doubled each time. The King thought that hed got away lightly, but little did he realise the power of doubling to make things big very quickly. By the sixteenth square there was already a kilo of rice on the chess board. By the twentieth square his servant needed to bring in a wheelbarrow of rice. He never reached the 64th and last square on the board. By that point the rice on the board would have totalled a staggering 18,446,744,073,709,551,615 grains. Playing chess has strong resonances with doing mathematics. There are simple rules for the way each chess piece moves but beyond these basic constraints, the pieces can roam freely across the board. Mathematics also proceeds by taking self-evident truths (called axioms) about properties of numbers and geometry and then by applying basic rules of logic you proceed to move mathematics from its starting point to deduce new statements about numbers and geometry. For example, using the moves allowed by mathematics the 18th-century mathematician Lagrange reached an endgame that showed that every number can be written as the sum of four square numbers, a far from obvious fact. For example, 310 = 172 +42 + 22 + 12. Some mathematicians have turned their analytic skills on the game of chess itself. A classic problem called the Knights Tour asks whether it is possible to use a knight to jump around the chess board visiting each square once only. The first examples were documented in a 9th-century Arabic manuscript. It is only within the past decade that mathematical techniques have been developed to count exactly how many such tours are possible. It isnt just mathematicians and chess players who have been fascinated by the Knights Tour. The highly styled Sanskrit poem Kavyalankara presents the Knights Tour in verse form. And in the 20th century, the French author Georges Perecs novel Life: A Users Manual describes an apartment with 100 rooms arranged in a 1010 grid. In the novel the order that the author visits the rooms is determined by a Knights Tour on a 1010 chessboard. Mathematicians have also analysed just how many games of chess are possible. If you were to line up chessboards side by side, the number of them you would need to reach from one side of the observable universe to the other would require only 28 digits. Yet Claude Shannon, the mathematician credited as the father of the digital age, estimated that the number of unique games you could play was of the order of 10120 (a 1 followed by 120 0s). Its this level of complexity that makes chess such an attractive game and ensures that at the Olympiad in Russia in 2010, local spectators will witness games of chess never before seen by the human eye, even if the winning team turns out to have familiar names. ________________________________________________________ Rules The official rules of chess are maintained by the World Chess Federation. Along with information on official chess tournaments, the rules are described in the FIDE Handbook, section Laws of Chess.[2] Setup Pieces at the start of a game A b C d e f g h 8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 A b C D e f g h Initial position: first row: rook, knight, bishop, queen, king, bishop, knight, and rook; second row: pawns Chess is played on a square board of eight rows (called ranks and denoted with numbers 1 to 8) and eight columns (called files and denoted with letters a to h) of squares. The colors of the sixty-four squares alternate and are referred to as light squares and dark squares. The chessboard is placed with a light square at the right hand end of the rank nearest to each player, and the pieces are set out as shown in the diagram, with each queen on its own color. The pieces are divided, by convention, into white and black sets. The players are referred to as White and Black, and each begins the game with sixteen pieces of the specified color. These consist of one king, one queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights and eight pawns. ___________________________________________________________________________ Movement White always moves first. After the initial move, the players alternately move one piece at a time (with the exception of castling, when two pieces are moved). Pieces are moved to either an unoccupied square, or one occupied by an opponents piece, capturing it and removing it from play. With the sole exception of en passant, all pieces capture opponents pieces by moving to the square that the opponents piece occupies. A player may not make any move which would put or leave his king under attack. If the player to move has no legal moves, the game is over; it is either a checkmate-if the king is under attack-or a stalemate-if the king is not. Each chess piece has its own style of moving. In the diagrams, the dots mark the squares where the piece can move if no other pieces (including ones own piece) are on the squares between the pieces initial position and its destination. The king moves one square in any direction, the king has also a special move which is called castling and also involves a rook. The rook can move any number of squares along any rank or file, but may not leap over other pieces. Along with the king, the rook is also involved during the kings castling move. The bishop can move any number of squares diagonally, but may not leap over other pieces. The queen combines the power of the rook and bishop and can move any number of squares along rank, file, or diagonal, but it may not leap over other pieces. The knight moves to any of the closest squares which are not on the same rank, file or diagonal, thus the move forms an L-shape two squares long and one square wide. The knight is the only piece which can leap over other pieces. The pawn may move forward to the unoccupied square immediately in front of it on the same file, or on its first move it may advance two squares along the same file provided both squares are unoccupied, or it may move to a square occupied by an opponents piece, which is diagonally in front of it on an adjacent file, capturing that piece. The pawn has two special moves, the en passant capture, and pawn promotion. Moves of a king a B c D e f g h 8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 a B c D e f g h Moves of a rook a B c D e f g h 8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 a B c D e f g h Moves of a bishop a B c D e f g h 8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 a B c D e f g h Moves of a queen a B c D e f g h 8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 a B c D e f g h Moves of a knight a B c D e f g h 8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 a B c D e f g h Moves of a pawn a B c D e f g h 8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 a B c D e f g h * Pawns can optionally move two squares forward instead of one on their first move only. They capture diagonally (black xs); they cannot capture with their normal move (black circles). Pawns are also involved in the special move en passant (below). Check When a king is under immediate attack by one or two of the opponents pieces, it is said to be in check. A response to a check is a legal move if it results in a position where the king is no longer under direct attack (i.e. not in check). This can involve capturing the checking piece, interposing a piece between the checking piece and the king (which is possible only if the attacking piece is a queen, rook, or bishop and there is a square between it and the king), or moving the king to a square where it is not under attack. Castling is not a permissible response to a check. The object of the game is to checkmate the opponent; this occurs when the opponents king is in check, and there is no legal way to remove it from attack. End of the game Although the objective of the game is to checkmate the opponent, chess games do not have to end in checkmate-either player may resign if the situation looks hopeless. It is considered bad etiquette to continue playing when in a truly hopeless position. If it is a timed game a player may run out of time and lose, even with a much superior position. Games also may end in a draw (tie). A draw can occur in several situations, including draw by agreement, stalemate, threefold repetition of a position, the fifty-move rule, or a draw by impossibility of checkmate (usually because of insufficient material to checkmate). As checkmate from some positions cannot be forced in less than 50 moves (see e.g. pawnless chess endgame and two knights endgame), the fifty-move rule is not applied everywhere,[6] particularly in correspondence chess. White is in checkmate a B c D e f g h 8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 a B c d e f g h White is in checkmate. He cannot escape from being attacked by the Black king and bishops. Stalemate a B c d e f g h 8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 a B c d e f g h Stalemate if Black is to move. The position is not checkmate, and since Black cannot move, the game is a draw. Time control A modern digital chess clock Besides casual games without any time restriction, chess is also played with a time control, mostly by club and professional players. If a players time runs out before the game is completed, the game is automatically lost (provided his opponent has enough pieces left to deliver checkmate). The duration of a game ranges from long games played up to seven hours to shorter rapid chess games lasting usually 30 minutes or one hour per game. Even shorter is blitz chess with a time control of three to fifteen minutes for each player, or bullet chess (under three minutes). In tournament play, time is controlled using a game clock which has two displays, one for each players remaining time. ________________________________________________________ Notation for recording moves Naming the squares in algebraic chess notation Chess games and positions are recorded using a special notation, most often algebraic chess notation. Abbreviated (or short) algebraic notation generally records moves in the format abbreviation of the piece moved file where it moved rank where it moved, e.g. Qg5 means queen moves to the g-file and 5th rank (that is, to the square g5). If there are two pieces of the same type that can move to the same square, one more letter or number is added to indicate the file or rank from which the piece moved, e.g. Ngf3 means knight from the g-file moves to the square f3. The letter P indicating a pawn is not used, so that e4 means pawn moves to the square e4. If the piece makes a capture, x is inserted before the destination square, e.g. Bxf3 means bishop captures on f3. When a pawn makes a capture, the file from which the pawn departed is used in place of a piece initial, and ranks may be omitted if unambiguous. For example, exd5 (pawn on the e-file captures the piece on d5) or exd (pawn on e-file captures something on the d-file). ScholarHYPERLINK http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scholars_mateHYPERLINK http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scholars_mates mate If a pawn moves to its last rank, achieving promotion, the piece chosen is indicated after the move, for example e1Q or e1=Q. Castling is indicated by the special notations 0-0 for kingside castling and 0-0-0 for queenside castling. A move which places the opponents king in check usually has the notation + added. Checkmate can be indicated by # (occasionally ++, although this is sometimes used for a double check instead). At the end of the game, 1-0 means White won, 0-1 means Black won and  ½- ½ indicates a draw. Chess moves can be annotated with punctuation marks and other symbols. For example ! indicates a good move, !! an excellent move, ? a mistake, a blunder, !? an interesting move that may not be best or ?! a dubious move, but not easily refuted.[1] For example, one variant of a simple trap known as the ScholarHYPERLINK http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scholars_mateHYPERLINK http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scholars_mates mate, animated in the picture to the right, can be recorded: e4 e5 Qh5?! Nc6 Bc4 Nf6 Qxf7# 1-0 ________________________________________________________ Strategy and tactics Chess strategy consists of setting and achieving long-term goals during the game for example, where to place different pieces while tactics concentrate on immediate manoeuvre. These two parts of chess thinking cannot be completely separated, because strategic goals are mostly achieved by the means of tactics, while the tactical opportunities are based on the previous strategy of play. A game of chess is normally divided into three phases: opening, typically the first 10 to 25 moves, when players move their pieces into useful positions for the coming battle; middlegame, usually the fiercest part of the game; and endgame, when most of the pieces are gone, kings typically take a more active part in the struggle, and pawn promotion is often decisive. Opening A chess opening is the group of initial moves of a game (the opening moves). Recognized sequences of opening moves are referred to as openings and have been given names such as the Ruy Lopez or Sicilian Defence. They are catalogued in reference works such as the Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings. There are dozens of different openings, varying widely in character from quiet positional play (e.g. the Rà ©ti Opening) to very aggressive (e.g. the Latvian Gambit). In some opening lines, the exact sequence considered best for both sides has been worked out to more than 30 moves. Professional players spend years studying openings, and continue doing so throughout their careers, as opening theory continues to evolve. The fundamental strategic aims of most openings are similar: Development: To place (develop) the pieces (particularly bishops and knights) on useful squares where they will have an optimal impact on the game. Control of the center: Control of the central squares allows pieces to be moved to any part of the board relatively easily, and can also have a cramping effect on the opponent. King safety: Keeping the king safe from dangerous possibilities. A correct timing for castling can often enhance this. Pawn structure: Players strive to avoid the creation of pawn weaknesses such as isolated, doubled or backward pawns, and pawn islands and to force such weaknesses in the opponents position. Most players and theoreticians consider that White, by virtue of the first move, begins the game with a small advantage. This initially gives White the initiative. Black usually strives to neutralize Whites advantage and achieve equality, or to develop dynamic counterplay in an unbalanced position. Middlegame The middlegame is the part of the game which starts after the opening. There is no clear line between the opening and the middlegame, but typically the middlegame will start when most pieces have been developed. (Similarly, there is no clear transition from the middlegame to the endgame, see start of the HYPERLINK http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_endgame#The_start_of_the_endgameendgame.) Because the opening theory has ended, players have to form plans based on the features of the position, and at the same time to take into account the tactical possibilities in the position. The middlegame is also the phase in which most combinations occur. Combinations are a series of tactical moves executed to achieve some gain. Middlegame combinations are often connected with an attack against the opponents king; some typical patterns have their own names, for example the BodenHYPERLINK http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodens_MateHYPERLINK http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodens_Mates Mate or the Lasker- Bauer combination. Specific plans or strategic themes will often arise from particular groups of openings which result in a specific type of pawn structure. For example, the minority attack, that is the attack of queenside pawns against an opponent who has more pawns on the queenside. The study of openings should therefore be connected with the preparation of plans that are typical of the resulting middlegames. Another important strategic question in the middlegame is whether and how to reduce material and transform into an endgame (i.e. simplify). For example, minor material advantages can generally be transformed into victory only in an endgame, and therefore the stronger side must choose an appropriate way to achieve an ending. Not every reduction of material is good for this purpose; for example, if one side keeps a light-squared bishop and the opponent has a dark-squared one, the transformation into a bishops and pawns ending is usually advantageous for the weaker side only, because an endgame with bishops on opposite colors is likely to be a draw, even with an advantage of a pawn, or sometimes with a two-pawn advantage. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Endgame a B c D e f g h 8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 a B c d e f g h An example of zugzwang: the side which is to make a move is at a disadvantage. The endgame (or end game or ending) is the stage of the game when there are few pieces left on the board. There are three main strategic differences between earlier stages of the game and endgame: During the endgame, pawns become more important; endgames often revolve around attempting to promote a pawn by advancing it to the eighth rank. The king, which has to be protected in the middlegame owing to the threat of checkmate, becomes a strong piece in the endgame. It is often brought to the center of the board where it can protect its own pawns, attack the pawns of opposite color, and hinder movement of the opponents king. Zugzwang, a disadvantage because the player has to make a move, is often a factor in endgames but rarely in other stages of the game. For example, the diagram on the right is zugzwang for both sides, as with Black to move he must play 1Kb7 and let White promote a pawn after 2.Kd7; and with White to move he must allow a draw by 1.Kc6 stalemate or lose his last pawn by any other legal move. Endgames can be classified according to the type of pieces that remain on board. Basic checkmates are positions in which one side has only a king and the other side has one or two pieces and can checkmate the opposing king, with the pieces working together with their king. For example, king and pawn endgames involve only kings and pawns on one or both sides and the task of the stronger side is to promote one of the pawns. Other more complicated endings are classified according to the pieces on board other than kings, such as the rook and pawn versus rook endgame. Origins of the modern game (1000-1850) A tactical puzzle from LucenaHYPERLINK http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Ramirez_de_LucenaHYPERLINK http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Ramirez_de_Lucenas 1497 book Around 1200, rules of shatranj started to be modified in southern Europe, and around 1475, several major changes made the game essentially as it is known today. These modern rules for the basic moves had been adopted in Italy and Spain. Pawns gained the option of advancing two squares on their first move, while bishops and queens acquired their modern abilities. The queen replaced the earlier vizier chess piece towards the end of the 10th century and by the 15th century, had become the most powerful piece; consequently modern chess was referred to as Queens Chess or Mad Queen Chess. These new rules quickly spread throughout western Europe, with the exception of the rules about stalemate, which were finalized in the early 19th century. To distinguish it from its predecessors, this version of the rules is sometimes referred to as western chess or international chess. Writings about the theory of how to play chess began to appear in the 15th century. The Repeticià ³n de Amores y Arte de Ajedrez (Repetition of Love and the Art of Playing Chess) by Spanish churchman Luis Ramirez de Lucena was published in Salamanca in 1497. Lucena and later masters like Portuguese Pedro Damiano, Italians Giovanni Leonardo Di Bona, Giulio Cesare Polerio and Gioachino Greco or Spanish bishop Ruy Là ³pez de Segura developed elements of openings and started to analyze simple endgames. Franà §ois-Andrà © Danican Philidor, 18th-century French chess Master In the 18th century the center of European chess life moved from the Southern European countries to France. The two most important French masters were Franà §ois-Andrà © Danican Philidor, a musician by profession, who discovered the importance of pawns for chess strategy, and later Louis-Charles Mahà © de La Bourdonnais who won a famous series of matches with the Irish master Alexander McDonnell in 1834. Centers of chess activity in this period were coffee houses in big European cities like Cafà © de la Rà ©gence in Paris and SimpsonHYPERLINK http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simpsons-in-the-StrandHYPERLINK http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simpsons-in-the-Strands Divan in London. As the 19th century progressed, chess organization developed quickly. Many chess clubs, chess books and chess journals appeared. There were correspondence matches between cities; for example the London Chess Club played against the Edinburgh Chess Club in 1824. Chess problems became a regular part of 19th-century newspapers; Bernhard Horwitz, Josef Kling and Samuel Loyd composed some of the most influential problems. In 1843, von der Lasa published his and BilguerHYPERLINK http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Rudolf_von_BilguerHYPERLINK http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Rudolf_von_Bilguers Handbuch des Schachspiels (Handbook of Chess), the first comprehensive manual of chess theory. ________________________________________________________ Competitive play Contemporary chess is an organized sport with structured international and national leagues, tournaments and congresses. Chesss international governing body is FIDE (Fà ©dà ©ration Internationale des Échecs). Most countries have a national chess organization as well (such as the US Chess Federation and English Chess Federation), which in turn is a member of FIDE. FIDE is a member of the International Olympic Committee, but the game of chess has never been part of the Olympic Games; chess does have its own Olympiad, held every two years as a team event. The current World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand (left) playing chess against his predecessor Vladimir Kramnik. The current World Chess Champion is Viswanathan Anand of India. The reigning Womens World Champion is Alexandra Kosteniuk from Russia but the worlds highest rated female player, Judit Polgà ¡r, has never participated in the WomenHYPERLINK http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Womens_World_Chess_ChampionshipHYPERLINK http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Womens_World_Chess_Championships World Chess Championship, instead preferring to compete with the leading men and maintaining a ranking among the top male players. Other competitions for individuals include the World Junior Chess Championship, the European Individual Chess Championship and the National Chess Championships. Invitation-only tournaments regularly attract the worlds strongest players and these include Spains Linares event, Monte Carlos Melody Amber tournament, the Dortmund Sparkassen meeting, Sofias M-tel Masters and Wijk aan Zees Corus tournament. Regular