Letter - Support Statment Veteran Claim Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Letter - Support Statment Veteran Claim - Essay Example These risks include disease contamination, assassinations or even death. Therefore, in order to protect them against these risks, the US through the Department of Veterans has initiated programs through which the veterans are forced to subscribe to for temporary immortality. The claim is for service connection for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH/ NAFLD), initially characterized as fatty liver and claimed as liver failure/ liver disease, as caused by medication from in-service (US Army) incurrence and/or aggravation of disease or injury due to the prescribed medications taken on a daily basis for an extended period of time for service-connected disabilities. I, _____________ (â€Å"The Veteran†) served on active duty with due diligence from 2003 to 2004 and during this period, I was treated with high doses of Ibuprofen 800mg and other medications for pain relief and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications. VA Doctors restricted me from taking medication or adjusting to new medication due to NASH (for example: Ibuprofen was discontinued by Doctor Olesen Miami Hospital, Cymbalta was discontinued by Doctor Racha Washington DC, etc.) and this has been considered as a threat to my general well being. Over the years, I have been unable to perform and live to my expectations due to the medications that I took during the in-service. The side-effects to these medications are visible and their damage is imminent. As indicated earlier on, I have lost weight, my diet has been restructured and my budget has been strained due to the adoption of a new life. My NASH / LIVER Disease was established and recognized by the VA Hospitals in Miami, FL and Washington, DC and my doctors have recommended that my condition is worsening. In regards to risk factors that have affected progressively my liver disease, I have three that include my BMI 31.23 ( > 28 kg/m2), presence of fibrosis in my liver biopsy in 2010, and my current elevated AST

The Impact of Capital Structure on the Firms Performance Essay

The Impact of Capital Structure on the Firms Performance - Essay Example The authors of this paper are professors Murray Frank and Vidnan Goyal. Frank is one of the faculties of commerce in the University of British Columbia, Canada. While Goyal is in the department of finance in Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. They empirically tested 39 factors that affect leverage decisions of publicly traded companies in the U.S. One of the major findings is that the bankruptcy risk and profitability are negatively related to leverage. Their findings support tax-bankruptcy trade-off theory and stakeholder co-investment theory. On the other hand, it conflicts with the studies that are based on the pecking order theory and market timing theory. The authors are reliable and present good knowledge of the topic. Although theories are conflicting with some other research this is the good scholarly source. This source contributed more than enough in research work and target audience of the source is financial institutions, professionals, students, and stockhol ders. Bas, T., Muradoglu, G. & Phylaktis, K. (2009). Determinants of Capital Structure in Developing Countries. Retrieved March 15, 2011, from European Financial Management Association: http://efmaefm.org/0EFMSYMPOSIUM/China-2010/papers/determinants%20of%20capital%20structure%20in%20developing%20countries.pdf The authors of this paper are the faculty of Cass Business School in London. ... This paper is different than previous studies since it focuses on the large firms of developing countries. This paper contributed to research to some extent because it helped in understanding the fact that how different markets react differently. The audience of the paper is financial associations and foreign companies. This paper is included because it’s a scholarly and popular work and facts of the paper are well documented. Although my topic I too focused and this research is on a different topic this paper helped me to support my ideas. Titman, S., & Wessels, R. (1988). The Determinants of Capital Structure Choice. The Journal of Finance, 43 (1). The authors of this paper are professors at the University of California, Los Angeles. Both writers presented their research in a well-documented manner and this research is reliable and good to include when someone is working on the topic of capital structure. The study examined capital structure theories that have not tested bef ore based on a factor analytic technique. They analyzed the data using six measures of financial leverage including short-term debt, long-term debt, and convertible debt. The study findings show that the transaction cost is one of the major determinants of capital structure choice. In fact, the results do not support the effect of volatility, collateral value or future growth. This journal is very much related to my topic although it's too broad and not scholarly enough it helped a lot to narrow down my topic. The audience of the paper is students, teachers, and people who are seeking basic knowledge about the determinants of capital structure. Sbeiti, W. (2010).  

Michael Jackson As A Product Music Essay

Michael Jackson As A Product Music Essay Michael Jackson was born at Gray , Indiana in 1958 to an African-American couple, Joseph Walter Jackson and Katherine Esther Scruse. Though Michael had a very troubled relationship with his father at very early stages of his life, being born into a family with a musical background has contributed to the elevation of Michael into becoming the King of Pop. His career started as early as at the age of 5. In 1963, he was part of Jackson 5, a band that consisted of his four other brothers. Although at initial stages the band entertained their local surroundings, it captured a professional interest in 1968 when it signed a contract to Motown Records. By 1970, the group has gained enormous popularity and has topped music charts with hits such as Ill Be There, I want You Back, ABC and a few others. Michael has done four solo hits at this time. His solo Ben stood number one on the charts. After three glorious years, the sales started to decline forcing the Jacksons to leave Motown in 1975. Later that year, renaming the band as The Jacksons, they signed to Epic Records. Soon, Michaels outstanding performances and natural talent set him apart from the rest and made him central focus (Telegraph, 2009). Building on the relationship with producer Quincy Jones, formed at the time of acting in his musical movie The Wiz, Michael has released Off the Wall jointly produced by Jones. Off the Wall generated four US top ten hits, obtained number three on the billboard 200, sold over 20 million copies globally, and fetched various prestigious awards from American, Billboard and Grammy. This album has said to have brought 37% of wholesale album profits, the highest ever royalty rate in the music industry (USA Today, 2009). However, the best is yet to come. In 1982, the music business world has witnessed an unpredicted storm with the release of his Thriller. It has won him 8 of the 12 nominated Grammy awards, spent 122 weeks on the Billboard 200, sold over 50 million copies globally, and has since then remained the best selling album ever. However, the albums success cant be measured by sales alone, says Mitchell and Newman (2009), as Jackson moonwalked his way into history of music, Thriller set a new benchmark for blockbusters that changed how the music business promoted and marketed superstar releases. It also changed MTV, she continues, breaking down the cable networks racial barriers and raising the bar for video quality. Amidst the turmoil in music business at that time, he was described as a one man rescue team for the music business (Corliss, 2009). It exposed Michael as song writer, singer and dancer. Later that year, his fame reached further heights with the disclose of his signature Moonwalk live on Motowns 25:Yesterday, Today, Forever television show. The period between 1984 and 1992 has showcased Michaels business acumen. During this time he purchased Beatles back catalogue for $47 million, built Neverland ranch, founded Heal the World to aid children and environment, wrote a biography titled moonwalk, cause marketed to raise the funds for the poor in Africa and signed $1 billion 15 year contract with Sony. The Beatles purchase proved to be a great business move which guaranteed him millions of dollars of income forever (Strauss, 1996). In him was a wise investor, marketing genius but a shopping spree. However, at this time, the interest in business did not affect his music career as he released two albums, Bad and Dangerous. Although, the albums were not in race with Thriller, they kept him a float. But even as Jackson grew richer and more successful observes Leung (2005), his personal life took a strange turn: his face, his colour, his sex, his outfits, his marriage, and his lifestyle. And further, she opines, as the media zoomed in, he began to look more like a circus side show than a musical superstar.The much adored and worshiped innocent image of Michael has began to show up cracks in the early part of 1993, when a 13 year old accused him of child abuse at his Neverland. Although he denied the accusation, he reportedly settled it outside of court for $20 million causing suspicions (Independent, 2009). This was just a glimpse of numerous rumours and accusations to befall. Soon, Michaels image has begun to be questioned from every nook and corner and was surrounded by controversiesFrom physical transformation to song writing, from being married to becoming father of surrogate mother born child, from peter pan utopian ideas to adopting a chimp, from not exposing his children i n front of media to dangling his third child blanket out of balcony, from his new business contracts to his financial bankruptcy, from attending a Grammy ceremony on triple date to showing in court wearing pyjamas, and from label disputes to taking painkillers or drugs; every single move of him was under constant monitoring and was consistently linked to controversies. Acquisitions of physical transformation include plastic surgeries and bleaching. The suspected change of sex and colour has given a room from many moral and ethical allegations. The accused self-induced change from black to white has been reported as betrayal of black community (Topping, 2009). Although, Michael has responded with clarifications about the skin disease he posses and mental and physical turmoil he went through in his child hood (to argue his innocent love for children) in the famous interview of Opera Winfrey and by writing songs such as It does not matter if you are Black or White, they did not yield any results. In the surge of these allegations, his marriage to Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter of Elvis Presley was surprising to many. However, the marriage was short lived. He then married for the second time, a nurse named Debbie Rowe in 1996. The couple had two children- son, Prince Michael Jackson in 1997 and daughter, Paris Michael Jackson in 1998. The second marriage was also resulted in divorce in 1999. A year later, Michael had a third child, speculated to be born of a surrogate mother. Amidst this personal life turmoil, not so surprisingly the 1990s have been barren in terms of musical revenue. Though the release of the best selling remix album ever: Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix, the Dangerous world tour, a few charity events, a couple of shows celebrating his 30th anniversary and most acclaimed half time performance of Super Bowl XXVII have looked to rejuvenate his image, dangling his third child out of third floor balcony in 2002, the British journalist, Martin Bashirs documentary, Living with Michael Jackson, (in which the pop icon reportedly told that he shared bed with young children) in 2003, the second child abuse allegations, and following the pop stars arrest in 2004 based on these and many other relative allegations have further fueled the outrage (Rolling Stone, 2009). Ironically, in the following year Michael was acquitted of all these charges. In 2006, his Neverland ranch was closed due to labour disputes and he moved to Bahrain to star t a new. However, the controversies have never left him as he entered into dispute with King of Bahrain on several matters. As a late surge in the declining stage of his career, he and AEG, the music promoter, announced a surprise comeback to take place on 11th of July 2009. However, Michael goes into cardiac arrest and dies at the age of 50. Even in death the controversies did not desert him as there were many speculations on how he died. In the vocabulary of Product Life Cycle (PLC), beginning in 1963 up until 1978, Michael was in introduction stage, where he was a part of a group. He created awareness among music industry with his electric and outstanding performances. His stand alone performances from the group have served as trail before the actual solos at a later stage. Although being a part of group, he built a name for himself among music producers and customers. From 1978, with scarecrow role in the musical movie The Wiz has entered into Growth stage. Teaming up with Quincy Jones, the producer, he has extended his image to new markets. With albums like Thriller, performances like Moonwalk, endorsements contracts like Pepsi, and cause marketing and charity works like We are the World profits and sales have seen an unbelievable growth. All due to the improved quality, styling and added new value attributes to the music. And, thus, he was able to open up entirely anew distribution channels. The invention of music video genre, improved quality of the same, lip-syncing to pre-recorded voice in live performances and access to a whole new distribution channel in the form of MTV are a few of the many examples. The year 1986 has seen the start of Maturity stage. The sales and profits have reached to such a peak stage that, even the commercial success of Bad with over 30 million copy sales worldwide were considered lower. With the controversies regarding personal life beginning to creep into musical career the rate of sales growth slowed down. With the emergence of numerous controversies coupled with customers churn and competition, the early part of 1990s have seen the beginning of the end-the decline stage. The changes in his music videos with construction of sexual and violent natured images did not suit many customer preferences. The banning of In the closet in South Africa is a proof of the same. In the beginning of 2009, Michael calling it a final curtain call planned to perform 50 concerts (which saw a record breaking ticket sales and estimated to make close to $100m) but has met with his untimely death. So, Michael Jackson as a product (or marketing offering) has a similar life cycle to that of many others. However, what seems unique to him is the reincarnation or another cycle after its death-Product Death Cycle (PDC). Buried under huge financial debts for most part of his life, Michaels earnings have grown by millions after his death. Under various film, contract and merchandising deals, he has earned close to $200 million by the end of the year (Arango, 2009). Even beyond 2009, he is expected to earn close to 100 million per annum. For the man who left mark on over a 6 billion people, the Neverland and many other places on his name could be money generating machines for eternity from the tourists. The commercial renaissance after his death can be witnessed in almost everything-the physical and online retail outlets, the Billboard charts, radios, TV shows, internet and the like. As the digital music listeners fell back to CDs, over 422,000 copies of his albums were sold in the second week after his death, 40 times higher than the first one (Deprez, 2009). As per online, he notes, the shares of Apple, Amazon and eBay rose more than 2%, 1.3% and 0.64% respectively and expected to be long lasting. According to Silvio Pietroluongo , the Billboard director of charts, the level of dominance by Michael Jackson on the top pop catalogue albums chart is unlike anything one has ever seen on any Billboard chart, regardless if it occurred pre or post death (Smith, 2009). Michael Jackson topped the search list of all the major search engines for the year including Google, Yahoo and Bing (Michael Jackson, 2009). Britney Spears, whose name topped the yahoo search for past four years has been wiped out within an hour of his death as millions of users poured into it in no time (FD Wire, 2009). His music and videos became ubiquitous on the radios, iPods, MP3 players, televisions and internet (Sisario, 2009). As Barker (2009) puts it, his commemorative products and memorabilia are like the stimulus package 3 in the midst of global recession. In the contemporary capitalistic world, death of a few popular celebrities has always transformed into brilliant business opportunities (Porter, 2009). However, in the case of Michael Jackson, the opportunities in generating sale in death as in life are totally at par. Its not a day or a week affair; it is here to stay longer and thus might need another cycle.

St. Benidict And Fear Of The L :: essays research papers

St. Benedict and the Fear of the Lord Throughout the ancient world the God's were something that people loved and hated. They did have a certain fear from their gods, but it wasn't like that kind of fear of the Middle Ages. With Christianity coming into full stride, the mentality of the time was that God was something to be feared. This is something of importance, the middle ages are riddled with the fear of god and people spend their whole lives in that constant shadow.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This is noticeable in our first reading. In The Rule of St. Benedict he goes about on how to live a monastic life, and what the proper procedures are. The main goal that I feel is, is to not make God angry. Humility and obedience, the building blocks for anyone's life. This amount of fear and the practice of fear is very visible in the reading, from following the words of the apostle that says, 'Reprove, rebuke, exhort'; to the daily life of a monk and the rules to which a monk needs to follow.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The two main rules that a monk has to follow truly show the 'signs of the times'; Obedience and Humility. Obedience being the first grade of humility, the part that we are interested in is the part of 'if you don't obey then you should burn in hell…'; for someone today this excerpt, I feel, wouldn't affect them as much as if did back then. Some main reasons for this being, the fall of the Roman Empire, people were sick and tired of being pushed around by tyrants and idiot kings; they were ready for a change. But this change was only going to come around if they obey fully to what this new god had to say.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Humility, well now that just gives it all away. Just reading the first sentence, '…keeping ever before one's eyes the feat of the lord…'; and it goes on to talk about people talking back and burning in hell. We now see just how scared the people really were, so it comes down to, talk back to God and you will burn in hell. Will people really fall for this? It so happens that people do, they believe that with this newfound king they will HAVE to obey the rules no matter what. Now remember these rules are for monks, but if we look into the daily lives of people they too follow the same procedures.

Economic Interdependence Essay

Between 1939 and 1945, World War II took the lives of over 60 million people worldwide, making it the deadliest military conflict in the history of mankind. These statistics are so staggering that if famine were hypothetically eradicated from the earth, war would stand as the largest executioner of mankind. With that in mind, it would be safe to assume that today’s global leaders are in no way in favor of engaging in an armed conflict with another nation. Sadly, this is not necessarily the case we see in reality; wars are still being fought to attain fundamental components such as territory or political freedom. There are, however, theoretical aspects in today’s globalized society that allows political leaders to prevent military disputes from occurring in the first place. The question then becomes: is it possible to prevent or diminish war onset between dyads and if so, how? It is important to ask this question mainly because war is still very much a relevant aspect in our current international system. From the Gulf War to the War on Terror in the Middle East, military conflict seems to be the go-to option for a country seeking to achieve their goal when no other choice seems viable. In essence, war still occurs even in the relatively evolved society we currently inhabit because it has historically proved that brute force is at times the only practical option. The American Revolutionary War, for example, demonstrated that the colonies did not have the luxury of simply claiming their independence from Britain. The colonists had no choice but to fight for their freedom in order to become independent. Such historical instances demonstrate what war can accomplish, thus justifying why countries save war as a last resort. The majority of the time, however, military disputes are not the best course of action to undergo so finding a way to prevent war is a nation’s best alternative. By no means does this question have a definitive answer since war is a highly perplex, multi-faceted phenomenon but I will attempt to propose the best strategy leaders can take to reduce the possibility of war. In this paper I will call attention to several theoretical answers to the research question above, each with their own advantages and faults. The possible solutions to decrease military conflicts between dyads are based upon the governmental aspects of each country – such as regime type or levels of trade – and their influence on the relationship with another nation. The most recognized theories that could reduce the likelihood of war are the Democratic peace theory, balance of power theory and the commercial peace theory. The validity of each of these theories will be outlined to highlight their potential to help dyads avoid armed conflict. However, the latter theory will be the focus of this paper as my hypothesis stems from the belief that an increase in economic interdependence within a dyad leads to an overall decrease in militarized interstate disputes (MIDs) between that dyad. In order to validate my argument, I will first make an argument for each theory and then continue by creating a case that trade truly diminishes war. First, the Democratic peace theory is defined as a theory in political science and philosophy which holds that democracies—specifically, liberal democracies—almost never go to war with one another (Gartzke 2000). The idea behind ‘democracies do not fight one another’ is sustained by the fact that when two democracies confront one another in conflicts of interest, they are able to effectively employ democratic bargaining in their interaction, which then prevents most disagreements from escalating to a military conflict. In a struggle between democracies, by the time the two states are militarily ready for war, diplomats have had the opportunity to find a nonviolent solution to the dispute (Gartzke 2000). The concept behind democratic peace bears a close resemblance to a ‘them vs. us’ mentality. Countries take more into account what other likeminded states think of them over the ones with a completely different structure and ideals; it is easier to rally with people of the same beliefs. Nations that share democratic principles will be more concerned with pushing that same mindset and threatened by opposing regimes extending their reach, thus leading democracies to rely on each other. It is more beneficial being on the same side, than it is against one another. Unfortunately, the Democratic peace theory begins to start falling apart at the seams once you take into consideration the foundation that defines democratic peace. The first problems stems from the inaccurate definition of democracy, which calls into question the alleged evidence in support of the theory. Methodology used in collecting data to test whether or not a country is democratic is unscientific and democracies have been involved in conflict with each other at a much higher rate than what the proponents have determined. Even if the definition of democracies were accurately outlined, the current data would still be insufficient to establish a causal link between the democratic political institutions of a state and the frequency with which that state will engage in conflicts with other democracies (Layne 1994). The relative peace between democracies may just as well be the consequence of the international power structure of recent decades. If such is true, the very foundation of the democratic peace theory collapses. Next, the balance of power theory centers on the idea that when one nation or coalition increases its power or employ it more assertively, threatened states will respond by increasing their own power, usually by creating a counter-balancing alliance. Since the rise of major players in the international system, e. g. he United States, the balance of power among the most powerful states has been a delicate aspect that can potentially create complications or prevent them altogether. For example, if China were to somehow generate enough momentum and overthrow the United States in terms of global power, the US would most likely become agitated and retaliate with armed force. Alternatively, it can also act as a component for peace; a defeated nation can receive leniency from the major power and allow them to reestablish themselves prior to their conflict. The most important factor affecting the relation between the distribution of power and the likelihood of war is whether the terms of a compromise agreement that might be accepted in lieu of war affect the relative power of the antagonists and therefore the probability that the agreement will be enforced (Wagner 1994). Thus the relationship one can expect between the distribution of power and the likelihood of war depends on the specific instances that a dyad is faced with. The problem with the balance of power theory is that it is prone to security dilemmas, a concept that is generally integrated within the balance of power. With security dilemmas, none can feel at ease because both sides of a dyad want to match their power to the other, creating a never-ending quest for power. A nation’s possession of power – no matter how much the state tries to guarantee others that it is for defensive purposes only – will likely result in fear and/or suspicion from the opposing side. Thus, military disputes are expected to occur even when political â€Å"motives† for war – like territorial disputes, revenge, etc. – are absent. Nineteenth century Europe fosters many examples of how security dilemmas and balance of power created tension between states. The lack of overall authority in Europe meant that a self-help system of alliance and military force dominated the region (Wagner 1994). The justification touted by states to acquire military force was constantly outfitted as a solution of a threat to the equilibrium of the international system, which in turn validates the idea that balance of power theory acted as a cause of war in the nineteenth century. While democratic peace and balance of power theories offer intriguing premises to prevent war, they fall short in the end. Although there are several potential answers to the research question, I believe the truest method of inhibiting military disputes between two nations lies within the dyad’s economic interdependency. When it comes to the effect of economic interdependency among states, political experts are torn between two explanations. More specifically, states that are interdependent are either believed to be less likely to initiate militarized conflict – the liberal approach – or follow the realist view where bilateral trade doesn’t necessarily lead to conflict mitigation. There is compelling data on both sides of this argument but extensive research has led me to believe that the liberal perspective of trade follows this relationship more closely. The economic relationship that states share is imperative in determining whether or not they will uphold peace in order to facilitate greater benefits in the future. Economic interdependence, as explained by Gartzke, has multiple facets that embody this relationship between a dyad such as trade share, trade dependence and trade openness. Gartzke finds that these variables each have their distinct relationship with dyadic conflict, demonstrating that trade dependence and openness both decrease the probability of MID onset (2003). He notes that trade share, however, coincides with Barbieri’s findings, which indicates an increased probability for MID onset. Barbieri supports the conservative approach and states â€Å"although war sometimes leads to a temporary decline in the level of dyadic trade, in most instances war has no permanent long-term effect on trading relationships and, in fact, trade often increases in the postwar period† (Barbieri 1999). Even though Barbieri’s study makes a compelling argument, there is more evidence to support the claim that bilateral trading diminishes the chance of militarized disputes since trade mediates any tension that exists and reinforces their relationship at the international level. Nations, as rational actors in the diplomatic system, will consider trade agreements accordingly with other nations in order to gain goods and services to increase the well being of their state. This relationship between states is an important factor that will determine their rate of trade and whether or not they go to war with one another. Rational choice says that if the state is indeed rational, then their preferences are stable and transitive so they will always prefer to diminish any chance of war while at the same time benefiting from dyadic trade. Trade acts as a stabilizing force between the dyad and will prefer positive reinforcement (i. e. trade) versus negative reinforcement (i. e. war), hence transitivity. Rational choice therefore leads to the utility maximizing concept where states weigh the pros and cons of waging war on a state where mutual trade agreements take place. States will consider the most beneficial trades to maximize their gain but will also contemplate even the most miniscule trades in order to accelerate the possibility of greater trade in the future. The expectations of future trade impact the expected value of the trading option if a state decides to forgo war (Copeland 1996). In other words, although economic exchange may not offer immediate substantial gains, prospective trade opportunities prevent states from initiating conflict. Trade allows states to mutually benefit from one another while states that don’t trade gain nothing. Reed argues, â€Å"trading states can expect to gain less from a militarized clash than would nontrading states and, as a result, are more likely to accept a bargained outcome short of militarized conflict† (2003). If that benefit were no longer being exchanged, i. e. , trade, then the trading states would rather resolve their issue through negotiations rather than militarized conflict to continue receiving the benefit. In other words, the aforementioned relationship between trading and interstate conflict describes my causal process where an increase in bilateral trade leads to a decrease in MIDs. By choosing to exchange goods and/or services with states regardless of their contribution size, they are directly diminishing the probability of going to war with the opposing state. Alternatively, the relationship is reversed when trade is absent between a dyad since there is nothing to inhibit one another from attacking. Another benefit that comes from high levels of commercial exchange is described as the ‘information-maximizing’ theory: a belief that bilateral trade not only produces benefits from tangible goods but also intangible benefits such as increased information, which reduces the likelihood of hostility between the dyad (Reed 2003). Economic interdependence mitigates the effect of uncertainty through transparency and full disclosure agreements that lead to an enhanced probability of settlement short of militarized conflict. Interdependent states prefer the benefits gained from trade – tangible or intangible – because it allows the states to become more informed on their opponents’ costs of war than would nontrading states. Even when existing commercial exchange is low or non-existent, positive expectations for future trade will produce a positive expected value for trade, and therefore an incentive for continued peace. From 1971 to 1973 and in the late 1980s – the two main periods of cooperation between the Cold War superpowers – positive signs from U.  S. leaders led to trade being significantly increased, which coaxed the Soviets into a more cooperative relationship, reducing the probability of war (Copeland 1996). The Cold War exemplifies the idea that trade can act as a mediator, even among opposing superpowers. Trade agreements are effective means to ensure peaceful relationships among other states. Economic interdependency creates the ability to build beneficial trade arrangements, increasing state resources and improving the dyad’s collective relationship. The correlation between interdependence and MID onset is important not only for dyads that trade at higher levels but also for those with minimal trade amounts. Furthermore, the magnitude of trade does not play an influential role in determining the importance of the trade agreement since prospective gains always outweigh a militarized strike. If we ask ourselves again if it is possible to prevent or diminish war onset between dyads, it becomes clear that preventing military disputes stems from having a well established trade arrangement. It is irrelevant if the countries are both democracies or if they are similarly matched in military power – the only thing that really matters is whether a dyad exchanges goods and/or services. Consider the United States and China today; one is a democratic, military superpower while the other is a socialist state with no exceptional global power. Yet they share a relatively prosperous, mutually beneficial commercial relationship. No matter which way you view it, trade acts as the greatest approach for peace.

Culture diversity Essay

Increasingly today, people come into regular contact with individuals from different cultures and it’s important to learn to talk with people who may not share a common language, background, and/or worldview. Each of us participates in at least one culture, and most of us are products of several cultures Being aware of our own culture and background is really important as it helps us understand how we are shaped by what we have experienced. Even within cultures, we all have different attitudes and beliefs based on our experiences and this will impact on the way we relate to people both professionally and in our personal life. Learning to value diversity, to become conscious of our ways of relating to each other and their ways of relating to us, does not come easily to most of us nor is it something that can be imposed from the outside. In Valuing Relationship (1995), Lewis Brown Griggs sums the interrelationship of knowing ourselves and building relationship with others as follows: â€Å"Knowing myself is what allows me to know, understand, and value the diversity of others so that I can build trust with them. With more trust comes the ability to communicate more clearly, to problem solve and network more effectively, and to realize the value of synergistic relationships and productive interdependency. Together, investing in my relationship with myself and enhancing my relationship with others are important insurance policies against lost opportunities.† (page 210) Griggs, L. B. (1995). Valuing Relationship: The Heart of Valuing Diversity. In L. B. Griggs & L. L. Louw (Eds.), Valuing Diversity: New Tools for a New Reality. McGraw Hill, Inc: New York.

Free Essays on Dolls House

Nora Helmer in A Doll’s House is a woman ahead of her time. In order to protect her children from a false life, she inflicts tragedy upon herself by leaving every thing she has by walking away. She puts herself in this tragic situation by not being honest. Nora lies to herself and the ones she cares about. Before she leaves her life is not her own person she is carrying on life as a role. Making others happy, instead of herself. A Doll’s House by Henrik Isben is about a young woman and her life. The main characters name is Nora Helmer. She is married to a bank manager named Trovald. In the early years of their marriage just after their first child, Trovald becomes ill. Doctors say that he will not live unless he goes abroad immediately. Nora takes it upon herself and borrows money from Krogstad. She was dishonest with Trovald and said her father gave it to her. She has dishonored Torvald by lying to him, and has put him in a situation in the future, which he would not like to be in. Nora Helmer begins the play by having this almost child-like attitude of herself. She can not do anything on her own, and is constantly relying on others to help her with her daily activities. Nora does not care for her own children, and she doesn’t even cook. She has a maid which has left her own children because she was unwed. It is ironic that this women has to care for someone else’s children, when she is not allowed by society to care for hers. In one part of the play Nora is caught eating macaroons. She is scolded by Torvald as if she was a child being told what to do. She simply has to hide her affection for macaroons, because Torvald disagrees with sweets in the house. Torvald is more like a father figure to Nora then a husband. Nora’s father ends up dying because of his illness. He had done everything for Nora, made all her decisions. So when Nora enters this household with Torvald, it only becomes natural for her to be taken care of. ... Free Essays on Dolls House Free Essays on Dolls House Nora Helmer in A Doll’s House is a woman ahead of her time. In order to protect her children from a false life, she inflicts tragedy upon herself by leaving every thing she has by walking away. She puts herself in this tragic situation by not being honest. Nora lies to herself and the ones she cares about. Before she leaves her life is not her own person she is carrying on life as a role. Making others happy, instead of herself. A Doll’s House by Henrik Isben is about a young woman and her life. The main characters name is Nora Helmer. She is married to a bank manager named Trovald. In the early years of their marriage just after their first child, Trovald becomes ill. Doctors say that he will not live unless he goes abroad immediately. Nora takes it upon herself and borrows money from Krogstad. She was dishonest with Trovald and said her father gave it to her. She has dishonored Torvald by lying to him, and has put him in a situation in the future, which he would not like to be in. Nora Helmer begins the play by having this almost child-like attitude of herself. She can not do anything on her own, and is constantly relying on others to help her with her daily activities. Nora does not care for her own children, and she doesn’t even cook. She has a maid which has left her own children because she was unwed. It is ironic that this women has to care for someone else’s children, when she is not allowed by society to care for hers. In one part of the play Nora is caught eating macaroons. She is scolded by Torvald as if she was a child being told what to do. She simply has to hide her affection for macaroons, because Torvald disagrees with sweets in the house. Torvald is more like a father figure to Nora then a husband. Nora’s father ends up dying because of his illness. He had done everything for Nora, made all her decisions. So when Nora enters this household with Torvald, it only becomes natural for her to be taken care of. ...

Levy Patrick Mwanawasa - President of Zambia 2002-2008

Levy Patrick Mwanawasa - President of Zambia 2002-2008 Born: 3 September 1948 - Mufulira, Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia)Died: 19 August 2008 - Paris, France Early LifeLevy Patrick Mwanawasa was born in Mufulira, in Zambias Copperbelt region, part of the small ethnic group, the Lenje. He was educated at Chilwa Secondary School, in Ndola district, and went to read law at University of Zambia (Lusaka) in 1970. He graduated with a Bachelor of Law degree in 1973. Mwanawasa started his career as an assistant in law firm in Ndola in 1974, he qualified for the bar in 1975, and formed his own law company, Mwanawasa and Co., in 1978. In 1982 he was appointed Vice-chairman of Law Association of Zambia and between 1985 and 86 was the Zambian Solicitor-General. In 1989 he successfully defended former vice-president Lieutenant General Christon Tembo and others charged with plotting a coup against then president Kenneth Kaunda. Start of a Political CareerWhen Zambian president Kenneth Kaunda (United National Independence Party, UNIP) approved creation of opposition parties in December 1990, Levey Mwanawasa joined the newly created Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) under the leadership of Fredrick Chiluba. Presidential elections in October 1991 were won by Frederick Chiluba who took office (as Zambias second president) on 2 November 1991. Mwanawasa became a member of National Assembly for Ndola constituency and was appointed vice president and leader of the Assembly by President Chiluba. Mwanawasa was seriously injured in a car accident in South Africa in December 1991 (his aide died at the site) and was hospitalized for an extended period. He developed a speech impediment as a result. Disillusioned with Chilubas GovernmentIn 1994 Mwanawasa resigned as vice president claming the post was increasingly irrelevant (because he was repeatedly sidelined by chiluba) and that his integrity had been put in doubt after an argument with Micheal Sata, minister without portfolio (effectively the cabinet enforcer) in the MMD government. Sata would later challenge Mwanawasa for the presidency. Mwanawasa publicly accused Chilubas government of endemic corruption and economic irresponsibility, and left to devot his time to his old legal practice. In 1996 Levy Mwanawasa stood against Chiluba for the leadership of the MMD but was comprehensively defeated. But his political aspirations were not finished. When Chilubas attempt to change Zambias constitution to allow hi a third term in office failed, Mwanawasa moved to the forefront once again - he was adopted by the MMDs as their candidate for president. President MwanawasaMwanawasa achieved only a narrow victory in the December 2001 election, although his poll result of 28.69% votes cast was sufficient to win him the presidency on a first-past-the-post system. His nearest rival, out of ten other candidates, Anderson Mazoka received 26.76%. Election result was challenged by his opponents (especially by Mazokas party who claimed they had in fact won). Mwanawasa was sworn into office on 2 January 2002. Mwanawasa and the MMD lacked an overall majority in the National Assembly - due to voter distrust of a party Chiluba had brought into disrepute, from Chilubas attempt to hold on to power, and because Mwanawasa was seen as a Chiluba puppet (Chiluba retained the post of MMD party president). But Mwanawasa moved quickly to distance himself from Chiluba, starting an intensive campaign against the corruption which had plagued the MMD. (Mwanawasa also abolished the Ministry of Defense and took over the portfolio personally, retiring 10 senior military officers in the process.) Chiluba gave up presidency of the MMD in March 2002, and under Mwanawasas guidance the National Assembly voted to remove the former presidents immunity to prosecution (he was arrested in February 2003). Mwanawasa defeated a similar attempt to impeach him in August 2003. Ill HealthConcerns over Mwanawasas health arose after he suffered a stroke in April 2006, but he recovered enough to stand once again in presidential elections winning with 43% of the vote. His nearest competitor, Michael Sata of the Patriotic Front (PF) received 29% of the vote. Sata typically claimed voting irregularities. Mwanawasa suffered an second stroke in October 2006. On 29 June 2008, hours before the start of an African Union summit, Mwanawasa had a third stroke reportedly much more severe than the previous two. He was flown to France for treatment. Rumors of his death soon circulated, but were dismissed by the government. Rupiah Banda (member of the United National Independence Pary, UNIP), who had been vice-president during Mwanawasas second term, became acting president on 29 June 2008. On 19 August 2008, in hospital in Paris, Levy Patrick Mwanawasa died of complications due to his earlier stroke. He will be remembered as a political reformist, who secured debt relief and led Zambia through a period of economic growth (partly bolstered by the international rise in the price of copper).

Adolf Hitler Appointed Chancellor of Germany

Adolf Hitler Appointed Chancellor of Germany On January 30, 1933, Adolf Hitler was appointed as the chancellor of Germany by President Paul Von Hindenburg. Hindenburg made the appointment in an effort to keep Hitler and the Nazi Party â€Å"in check;† however, the decision would have disastrous results for Germany and the entire European continent. In the year and seven months that followed, Hitler was able to exploit the death of Hindenburg and combine the positions of chancellor and president into the position of Fà ¼hrer, the supreme leader of Germany. Structure of the German Government At the end of World War I, the existing German government under Kaiser Wilhelm II collapsed. In its place, Germany’s first experiment with democracy, known as the Weimar Republic, commenced. One of the new government’s first actions was to sign the controversial Treaty of Versailles which placed blame for WWI solely upon Germany. The new democracy was primarily composed of the following: The president, who was elected every seven years and vested with immense powers;The Reichstag, the German parliament, which consisted of members elected every four years and based on proportional representation- the number of seats was based on the number of votes received by each party; andThe chancellor, who was appointed by the president to oversee the Reichstag, and usually a member of the majority party in the Reichstag. Although this system put more power in the hands of the people than ever before, it was relatively unstable and would ultimately lead to the rise of one of the worst dictators in modern history. Hitler’s Return to Government After his imprisonment for his failed 1923 coup known as the Beer Hall Putsch, Hitler was outwardly reluctant to return as the leader of the Nazi Party; however, it did not take long for party followers to convince Hitler that they needed his leadership once again. With Hitler as leader, the Nazi Party gained over 100 seats in the Reichstag by 1930 and was viewed as a significant party within the German government. Much of this success can be attributed to the party’s propaganda leader, Joseph Goebbels. The Presidential Election of 1932 In the spring of 1932, Hitler ran against incumbent and WWI hero Paul von Hindenburg. The initial presidential election on March 13, 1932, was an impressive showing for the Nazi Party with Hitler receiving 30% of the vote. Hindenburg won 49% of the vote and was the leading candidate; however, he did not receive the absolute majority needed to be awarded the presidency. A run-off election was set for April 10. Hitler gained over two million votes in the run-off or approximately 36% of the total votes. Hindenburg only gained one million votes on his previous count but it was enough to give him 53% of the total electorate- enough for him to be elected to another term as president of the struggling republic. The Nazis and the Reichstag Although Hitler lost the election, the election results showed that the Nazi Party had grown both powerful and popular. In June, Hindenburg used his presidential power to dissolve the Reichstag and appointed Franz von Papen as the new chancellor. As a result, a new election had to be held for the members of the Reichstag. In this July 1932 election, the popularity of the Nazi Party would be further affirmed with their massive gain of an additional 123 seats, making them the largest party in the Reichstag. The following month, Papen offered his former supporter, Hitler, the position of Vice Chancellor. By this point, Hitler realized that he could not manipulate Papen and refused to accept the position. Instead, he worked to make Papen’s job difficult and aimed to enact a vote of no confidence. Papen orchestrated another dissolution of the Reichstag before this could occur. In the next Reichstag election, the Nazis lost 34 seats. Despite this loss, the Nazis remained powerful. Papen, who was struggling to create a working coalition within the parliament, was unable to do so without including the Nazis. With no coalition, Papen was forced to resign his position of chancellor in November of 1932. Hitler saw this as another opportunity to promote himself into the position of chancellor; however, Hindenburg instead appointed Kurt von Schleicher. Papen was dismayed by this choice as he had attempted in the interim to convince Hindenburg to reinstate him as chancellor and allow him to rule by emergency decree. A Winter of Deceit Over the course of the next two months, there was much political intrigue and backroom negotiations that occurred within the German government. A wounded Papen learned of Schleicher’s plan to split the Nazi Party and alerted Hitler. Hitler continued to cultivate the support he was gaining from bankers and industrialists throughout Germany and these groups increased their pressure on Hindenburg to appoint Hitler as chancellor. Papen worked behind the scenes against Schleicher, who soon found him out. Schleicher, upon discovering Papen’s deceit, went to Hindenburg to request the President order Papen to cease his activities. Hindenburg did the exact opposite and encouraged Papen to continue his discussions with Hitler, as long as Papen agreed to keep the talks a secret from Schleicher. A series of meetings between Hitler, Papen, and important German officials were held during the month of January. Schleicher began to realize that he was in a tenuous position and twice asked Hindenburg to dissolve the Reichstag and place the country under emergency decree. Both times, Hindenburg refused and on the second instance, Schleicher resigned. Hitler Is Appointed Chancellor On January 29th, a rumor began to circulate that Schleicher was planning to overthrow Hindenburg. An exhausted Hindenburg decided that the only way to eliminate the threat by Schleicher and to end the instability within the government was to appoint Hitler as chancellor. As part of the appointment negotiations, Hindenburg guaranteed Hitler that four important cabinet posts could be given to Nazis. As a sign of his gratitude and to offer the reassurance of his professed good faith to Hindenburg, Hitler agreed to appoint Papen to one of the posts. Despite Hindenburg’s misgivings, Hitler was officially appointed as chancellor and sworn in at noon on January 30, 1933. Papen was named as his vice-chancellor, a nomination Hindenburg decided to insist upon to relieve some of his own hesitation with Hitler’s appointment. Longtime Nazi Party member Hermann Gà ¶ring was appointed in the dual roles of Minister of the Interior of Prussia and Minister Without Portfolio. Another Nazi, Wilhelm Frick, was named Minister of the Interior. The End of the Republic Although Hitler would not become the Fà ¼hrer until Hindenburg’s death on August 2, 1934, the downfall of the German republic had officially begun. Over the course of the next 19 months, a variety of events would drastically increase Hitler’s power over the German government and the German military. It would only be a matter of time before Adolf Hitler attempted to assert his power over the entire continent of Europe. Sources and Further Reading Hett, Benjamin Carter. The Death of Democracy: Hitlers Rise to Power and the Downfall of the Weimar Republic. New York: Henry Holt, 2018.  Jones, Larry Eugene. Hitler versus Hindenburg: The 1932 Presidential Elections and the End of the Weimar Republic. Cambridge: University of Cambridge Press, 2016.  McDonough, Frank. Hitler and the Rise of the Nazi Party. London: Routledge, 2012.  Von Schlabrendorff, Fabian. The Secret War Against Hitler. New York, Routledge, 1994.

Legal Risk and opportunity in Employment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Legal Risk and opportunity in Employment - Essay Example Even though there was a personnel manual that outlined the corrective action plan that would happen before employee termination, the at-will employment statement that Pat Grey signed is taken as contractual rather than those specifications in the manual. Part of agreeing to be an at-will employee means that, similar to the way an employee can quit for any reason, an employer can fire an employee for any reason. The only reasons that are an exception to this rule are things like race and gender that have been labeled discriminatory. (Workplace Fairness, 2008). If Pat Grey's expressed views at the school board meeting ultimately caused him to be fired, then so be it. Furthermore, without a direct statement that this was the reason he was fired, he would have trouble proving it in court - although because of at-will employment it would not matter anyways. Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act protects employees from sex discrimination, which includes sexual harassment. Sexual harassment can include "unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature [that] explicitly or implicitly affects an individual's employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual's work performance, or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment." (The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 2008). Newcorp is liable to protect its employees from sex discrimination. In order to do so, they can begin by firing Sam. There are many reasons he should be fired. First, by preventing Paula from transferring departments and by making unwelcome sexual advances, Sam is committing sexual harassment. If Newcorp did not reprimand Sam for sexual harassment in any way, Paula may take legal actions against Newcorp. Secondly, Sam likely violated his conditions of employment by becoming romantically involved with an employee that he supervised. Many companies have policies stating that supervisors cannot date the employees they supervise because other employees may feel that they are being put at an unfair advantage by not dating supervisors. Finally, Sam was using paid work time to have romantic encounters with Paula - any employee who uses company time for anything other than work is fair game for termination. It may also be advisable for Newcorp to fire Paula, as she was also using paid work time to have romantic encounters with Sam. Her public displays of affection in front of the other employees may have also caused them to feel uncomfortable - which is a type of sexual harassment. Even if Paula is not fired, she should be disciplined in some way. However, it is a bad idea for Newcorp to fire Paula but not Sam, because Paula will try to sue Newcorp for the sexual harassment from Sam that Newcorp allowed. Legal Encounter 3: Newcorp has very little liability to Paul and his claim for worker's compensation. While Paul's claustrophobia may have arisen from his working conditions, these particular working conditions were normal for the job of a maintenance technician. Because being a maintenance technician normally requires a person to get into small spaces to fix things, Paul will not be able to claim worker's comp for his claustrophobia. On the other hand, for example, if he worked in a cubicle for a calling

Experimental Researrch Design Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Experimental Researrch Design - Essay Example Experimental research designs are the only ones that have the ability to determine if a change in the independent variable actually causes a change in the dependent variable. In carrying out an experimental design a number of questions have to be answered. These questions will determine the type of experimental study design to be adopted. Experimental designs are usually carried out on groups or individuals. Accordingly, the structure of the design changes as group experimental design or single subject experimental design (Srinagesh, 2006). Group experimental designs take different forms. If there is only one independent variable then a single variable design is adopted that has three approaches- pre-experimental designs, true experimental designs and quasi experimental designs. However, if there are two or more then then a factorial design is adopted. The single subject experimental designs are used only when one subject is involved in the study and thus aim at studying behavioral changes of different individuals as a result of some treatment or intervention. There are three main types and these include: A-B-A withdrawal design, multiple baseline design and alternating treatments design (Gravetter & Forzano, 2011). In the study question above, it was only possible to identify one independent variable which was the rate of adoption of the electronic medical records. A number of dependent variables were identified and these include: time, the hospitals surveyed, patient knowledge and efficiency. Therefore, in this case a single variable experimental design will be used. Narrowing down in this category, the quasi-experimental design with the use of time series design will be used. The rate of adoption is seen to change over time. The method will be effective because of the time aspect involved in the study. The design will address internal validity in a number of ways. The study

Parity Theories Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Parity Theories - Essay Example This simply indicates uniformity in the prices of fixed number of goods and services and exchange rate of two countries. The roots of this theory lie in the law of one price, which says that homogenous goods should have identical prices universally not including any carrying or shipping costs under the prevalence of perfect competition if the pertinent national prices are stated in a common currency. The law of one price has certain conditions, which must exist in order for this law to be applicable. Firstly, it is the presence of competitive market for goods and services in two countries (EconomyWatch, 2010). Secondly, presence of goods and services that two countries can trade between themselves and lastly, checking of transportation and other operational expenses, which are obstructions in trade. Taking example of McDonald’s Big Mac hamburger prices around the world, one can understand this concept. For this the one should take the prices of all the countries in common curr ency, therefore dollar would be the appropriate one as every currency’s appreciation or depreciation is measured in terms of dollar (Taylor and Taylor, 2004, pp.135-158). In January 2004, the price of hamburger in United States was $2.80 where as in China it was $1.23, least expensive of all countries, this shows that China’s currency was underrated by 56%. ... Moreover, wage rate of the person serving foods at restaurant, rent of place of restaurant, and many other factors in case of businesses other that restaurants, have different costs and values in different countries therefore final prices become very different due to these inputs. In response of question that why countries should adopt Purchasing Power Parity Theory when there are so many discrepancies, one can say that in long-term PPP theory has good effects on the economy of a country. A big retailer may use this theory to find that in what countries products possess lesser prices than the domestic country so that the retailer can approach them. This would increase the demand of that product in the country in which it is of low price leading to increase in price (Murray and Papell, 2005, pp. 410-415). Simultaneously, the countries that were selling the product at a higher price would somehow manage to lower the prices so that demand increases and people purchases from them. Ultima tely, both countries would start offering same prices in spite of differences in the currencies. There are two types of purchasing power parity theories; these are Absolute purchasing power parity and relative purchasing power parity. Absolute purchasing power parity theory suggests that if the prices of goods convert into same currency then a basket of goods would have same cost in the native country as well as abroad. In simple words, absolute purchasing power parity theory assumes that the purchasing power of money should be identical between countries. On the other hand, relative purchasing power parity theory focuses on changes in

What did the War of 1812, in terms of the international community, Essay

What did the War of 1812, in terms of the international community, achieve for the United States of America - Essay Example John B. Hoey writes, â€Å"The War of 1812 has†¦.. finally won a gallant victory that validated national institutions and presaged the growth and expansion of the young Republic.†(Hoey) Congress declared war and it was thrust upon a nation that was unprepared. Though U.S. forces were numerically superior as compared to the enemy, it was not in a position to win convincingly. Economically weak nation opted for negotiated peace to end the stalemate. American defense establishment failed and their calculations went haywire. The other consequences of war were the confirmation of the border between Canada and United States and it brought to an end the plans of America to annex Canada. With the termination of British support to the Indian tribes the prospect of Indian Confederacy ended. War revolutionized manufacturing in a big way and U.S. won the respect of the international

Robin Hood Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Robin Hood - Case Study Example As the size of the band started growing, they had to increase the supply of food for each of his men. It was exceeding the food capacity of his band. Second issue that bothered Robin was that, with increasing men in his band, it was becoming difficult for him to maintain the discipline. He was thinking of changing the way of his policies in order to maintain the order of his band. The best way to do it would be to stop confiscating the goods from the rich and rather imply a transit tax for each of the person crossing from there woods. He has to get things more organized, because he was aware of the fact that the sheriff was becoming more and more organized gradually. This was threatening for Robin and his band men. So using a fixed transit was the best option rather than killing the sheriff or being a part of Barons in order to topple the king, because there was no assurance that they succeed in their plan. In case they did not, then the King will get back to everyone and all these p reparations would go in

Research Training Programme Project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Research Training Programme Project - Essay Example Future analysis of this panel could be effected by correcting the mistake. Additionally, only two years of the four year programme was utilized, as the other two years could not provide an adequate percentage of the data. The importance of this data cleaning should be considered when the final results are analysed. Cleaning is a judgmental process which sometimes removes items which are of great importance to those providing the data. Only by repeating the data collection can any factors which occur again and again be noticed. This paper is based upon research done by Loughborough University as part of a review of the Business School's Training Programme. This research was conducted over a number of weeks at the beginning of 2006, and a survey was conducted amongst former students, questioning them about their experiences and opinions of the course. The intention of the questionnaire was to discover whether the students had benefited from the course, and whether they felt that the teaching was adequate. As this was a group working, there were a number of meetings throughout the weeks to try and ensure co-operation and agreement amongst all the members. After a series of meetings and interviews in January, the questionnaire was sent out to students in March, and received back in April. This data was then input into a SPSS program, from which the results in this paper are taken. At the design meetin... From these results we will need to conduct an analysis to try and find some significant results. Why that use of design THE NATURE OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE The questionnaire that was sent to the students was divided into five sections, each dealing with a different topic. In the first section, for example, the questions concerned the personal details of the student, age, nationality and so on. In the second section, we asked them about the relevance of certain topics to their research. The third topic concerned the usefulness of the training programme; the fourth dealt with improvements to the student's relationships, and the fifth and final section asked the students to rate their satisfaction with the course. The design of this questionnaire was to enable us to demonstrate whether the training programme met the students' requirements, whether it improved their interpersonal relationships, and whether they felt the course had proved satisfactory. The first section allowed the students to be readily quantified and compared, which can prove useful when considering results, the other sections concentrate upon the courses, and the benefits and satisfaction the students felt that they had gained. . Other aspects of these results may become significant when we are comparing the results via SPSS. As the aim of this project is to improve the teaching of business courses at Loughborough, then consideration of the benefits to the students, and the improvements in their relationships, must be included while analyzing their satisfaction. Analysis The analysis of this questionnaire was conducted using the SPSS system of statistic management. This programme provides the analyst

Robin Hood Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Robin Hood - Case Study Example As the size of the band started growing, they had to increase the supply of food for each of his men. It was exceeding the food capacity of his band. Second issue that bothered Robin was that, with increasing men in his band, it was becoming difficult for him to maintain the discipline. He was thinking of changing the way of his policies in order to maintain the order of his band. The best way to do it would be to stop confiscating the goods from the rich and rather imply a transit tax for each of the person crossing from there woods. He has to get things more organized, because he was aware of the fact that the sheriff was becoming more and more organized gradually. This was threatening for Robin and his band men. So using a fixed transit was the best option rather than killing the sheriff or being a part of Barons in order to topple the king, because there was no assurance that they succeed in their plan. In case they did not, then the King will get back to everyone and all these p reparations would go in

Starbucks Essay Example for Free

Starbucks Essay Access the Internet to acquire a copy of the most recent annual report for the publicly traded company used to complete the Financial Reporting Problem, Part 1 assignment due in Week Six. Analyze the information contained in the company’s balance sheet and income statement to answer the following questions: †¢Are the assets included under the company’s current assets listed in the proper order? Explain your answer. The current assets should be listed in the order of liquidity. The assets which can be easily converted into cash are listed first. Cash is already in liquid form and thus is recorded first. Next to follow are cash and cash equivalents (like marketable securities etc.) which can be very easily converted into cash are recorded next. The other current assets to follow the list are Accounts receivable, Inventory, Prepaid expenses and other current Assets. Starbucks is following the same while listing the current assets in the Balance Sheet. †¢How are the company’s assets classified? Assets are classified as Current Assets and Fixed Assets. Current Assets are those assets out of which the benefit derived is for a period less than one year. Fixed assets are those assets out of which the benefit derived is for a period more than 1 year. †¢What are cash equivalents? Cash equivalents are investment securities that are short-term, have high credit quality and are highly liquid. Cash and Cash equivalents of Starbucks as of 2013-09-29 is $2,575.70 million. †¢What are the company’s total current liabilities at the end of its most recent annual reporting period? The total Current liabilities of Starbucks as of 2013-09-29 are $5,577.30 million. †¢What are the company’s total current liabilities at the end of the previous annual reporting period? The total Current liabilities of Starbucks as at the end of the previous annual reporting period 2012-09-30 is $2,209.80 million. †¢Considering all the information you have gathered, why might this information be important to potential creditors, investors, and employees? The financial statements provide useful information to various parties for decision making. Creditors: Creditors are those who provide credit to the company. From the financial statements the creditors assess the liquidity position of the company. The current assets and the current liabilities are looked into to know the liquidity position. If the current assets to current liabilities are 2 times to 1, then the creditors would be interested to extend credit to the Company. Investors: Investors are those who provide capital to the Company. The financial statements provide the profitability position of the Company. The investors are interested to know the profit margin, the dividend paid in the recent years, the growth rate in earnings etc. The information gathered above does not provide these details which are helpful for investors. Employees: Employees of the company are interested to know the profitability position of the Company based on which they can expect a bonus from the Company. The financial statements should be thoroughly analyzed for various decision to be taken which are u seful to various parties and situations.

Technology Management And Social Media Management Essay

Technology Management And Social Media Management Essay The world is changing and the changes that are taking place are having an impact on business organizations all over the world. One big change is the advancements in technology. New technologies such as social media are changing or improving the way business gets done. (Module SHRM, 2004, p.g.2-6) According to the Garavan, et al., (1999), p.g.174 other big changes may include product or market changes, external and internal labour market changes, changing skill requirements within industries and the availability of skilled workers from outside the organization. Furthermore, the size of these changes can be big and the speed of these changes can be fast. How are organizations responding to such changes? Organizations have to change along with the environmental changes. One way they can change is to change the way they think about people. It has often been said that people are an organizations most important asset. On the surface, this saying seems to be consistent with one of the most important ideas of SHRM-that an organizations competitive edge and ability to succeed is derived from its intellectual assets, which are found mainly in the people working at an organization but in the face of the big environmental changes, the saying does not seem to be totally correct. The reason is that the value of the assets is not likely to stay constant in the turbulent environment. For example, in order to use the new technologies that are now available, the people of an organization will have to have the right skills. Organizations with the right peopl e will have the ability to take advantage of the new technologies while those that do not may eventually lose out. According to the assignment Standard Chartered Bank case study illustrates the employees into five categories which are high-potentials, critical resources, core contributors, underachievers, and underperformers. The reality is that there are underperformers in practically every organization and they cannot be rightly considered as assets, and as suggested in the Standard Chartered Bank case study, the underperformers may have to be managed out. An organization can get the right people through several ways. One way is to hire but this could turn out to be an expensive option. Another option is to upgrade the existing human assets through human resource development (HRD) activities. HRD activities are concerned with the training and development of people as well as their education. Such activities can be formal or informal and all may be categorised more or less as learning. According to Garavan, et al., (1999), p.g.174 HRD practitioners dream of creating learning organizations-organizations that learn adapt and innovate as cohesive units. HRD practitioners are strong supporters of learning organizations because they believe, as one management guru puts it, that the ability to learn faster that ones competitors may be the only sustainable competitive advantage. In short, sustainable competitive advantage is an important HRD outcome. Garavan, et al., (1999), p.g.174 stated that another important outcome is organizational innov ative capacity, but before competitive advantage and organizational innovative capacity can come about, learning has to happen first. HRD can play several key roles in helping organizations achieve learning. To illustrate how HRD can help companies do well in the current environment, I will use the case of a fake but nevertheless believable Malaysian company. This Malaysian company has a relatively large presence in the region and it has decided to introduce teams as part of its response to the environmental changes. The main reason for doing so is because the top management felt that teams are able to respond more quickly to customers and their frequently changing needs. It should be pointed out that for a long time, the company has been hierarchical and bureaucratic in its management style, so adopting a new organizational form is quite a big change as well as a big challenge. HRD can help the fake Malaysian company in several ways. Firstly, it is obvious that the workers need to learn new skills in order to remain effective in the new team environment. HRD can help to identify the skill gaps and address those gaps at the individual, team and organizational levels or whatever level that is relevant (Module SHRM, 2004, p.g.291-293). In the case of the Malaysian company, part of the learning has to include hard technical training. That is because it has offices all over the region so it has no choice but to go virtual and its workers need to learn how to use information and communication technologies effectively to make the teamwork work. In addition, the learning will have to include cross-cultural communication and teamwork. Many nationalities work in that company and different nationalities communicate and do things differently. Therefore, the people at the company need to be trained so that they can communicate and work effectively as a cohesive multi-cu ltural team. Secondly, according to the module SHRM, (2004), p.g.291-293, HRD can act as catalyst for change and in the case of the fake Malaysian company, cultural change may be especially critical. Culture is the way people do things at a particular organization. Culture can also be considered as the wisdom and knowledge that an organization has accumulated throughout the years of its existence. The change from a hierarchical, bureaucratic style to a team-working style is in part a cultural change. Culture is however difficult to change partly because it has contributed to the organizations past successes. Imagine telling a 20-year veteran in the fake Malaysian company who has risen to a fairly high level, a person who is so used to the hierarchical and bureaucratic style of working, that he now has to work in a team. It is very likely that he will resist the change. So, the veteran needs to learn to accept the need for change and ultimately change himself. In this case, training may not the be st learning solution. More informal HRD activities such as coaching or counselling may be more appropriate in this sort of situation. Indeed, the correct choice of HRD activities is critically important in ensuring that learning really takes place. In this particular context, learning means that the skills picked up by the participants of a training programme are immediately put into use at the office. It can also mean people showing the behaviours that an organization considers highly desirable and important for organizational success, such as teamwork. The transfer to the workplace however does not happen automatically and HRD practitioners can play a role to ensure that the transfer will eventually take place. HRD can do so by getting things right from the start, by making sure that the content and delivery are right, which is HRDs third role in helping an organization achieve learning. Take training as an example. In most organizations, some of the training can be conducted by in-house experts but not all of it. So HRD practitioners will have to source for training solutions from the outside and they will also have to perform some sort of quality control on the solutions. That is the content side of things. Great trainers complete the picture by giving great delivery. Some people think training equals HRD, but is that true and is training always the best solution? The truth is this, training is not the only solution and it is not always the best solution. Lets look again at the 20-year veteran case. As mentioned, I do not think training is the best solution in that case. What may be more appropriate for the veteran is one-to-one coaching or counselling. Coaching, counselling and mentoring can be considered as delivery mechanisms. Other delivery mechanisms include e-learning or formal education. HRD practitioners need to know the strengths and weaknesses of each mechanism and make the right choice. In addition, HRD practitioners cannot assume managers automatically know how to train, coach, counsel or mentor. HRD practitioners can help the people involved get trained in both content develo pment and delivery. At the end of the day, HRD practitioners need to know what works best in any given situation and give their recommendations and they should never forget that the learning outcomes of the selected content must be in alignment with the organisational objectives and that the delivery should be good so that the transfer of learning is likely to occur. Finally, HRD can play a role in the creation of a learning climate or environment. This is important because a learning climate can help embed learning within an organizations culture. Learning can take place anytime, anywhere. However, as implied above, learning may not be an easy thing for some people and if we look back at the 20-year veteran, some people may even resist learning. In that particular case, it is probably more of an unwillingness to learn than an inability to learn but in the case of the fake Malaysian company, they are now told more or less that their way of working is no longer good enough. The implication is that they are incompetent, an implication that will likely hurt the self-esteem of many a veteran. Therefore, in order to encourage learning, organizations have to make it safe to learn. The safety that we are talking about is psychological safety. HRD practitioners have a less direct role to play here. It is the top management, the leaders, who will have to play a major role. They will have to lead the way. For example, leaders have to find ways to encourage people to take risks. As pointed out by Garavan, et al., (1999), p.g.174 innovation will only take place in organizations where the organizational culture empowers individuals and accepts risk taking. In the same way, when people learn, they may in fact be taking risks but risk-taking can result in failures and when people fail in their attempts at learning, they become open to attacks, especially from their bosses. For instance, the 20-year veteran may need relatively more time to learn the new technologies and he may well experience some hiccups along the way. So before people are willing to learn, people must be confident that they wont be punished when they fail, that they wont be attacked when they are down. In short, learners have to place great trust in their bosses, especially during times of failures. So leaders have to somehow show that it is OK to make mistakes and fail. It is easier said than done, but the adoption of this leadership style may pave the way towards innovation and sustainable competitive advantage. All in all, HRD can play four roles in helping companies achieve SHRM and organizational outcomes and the most important outcome may well be learning itself.

Leave Your Reality at the Door :: Free Descriptive Essay About A Place

Leave Your Reality at the Door Definition of the Table: a place where insanity, creativity and intelligence blend together in an often bizarre and amusing combination. Before my years at NDSU began, the Table existed. It is a place to hang out on campus and kill some time that would be better spent otherwise. It is a place where friends through various places and all walks of life come together in a long-since staked out territory to have discussions that vary from normal, to just plain bizarre and others that often border the taboo. If people are between classes and have free time that they aren’t spending studying, they are at the Table. It is our rendez vous point. It becomes a place for us to not worry, to kick back and relax and leave behind the usual version of what people call reality. Without the people and the activity, the scene around the Table is nothing out of the ordinary. In the basement of the Memorial Union there is an area of tables on the tile-floor where the Union Food Court meets the Recreation and Outing Center. The tall tables surrounded by stools are ignored as all the standard height tables have been taken over to form the Table. Generally we have about six tables, pushed into a formation that has evolved into a close area taking up as little space as possible. All the regular wooden chairs have also been commandeered for the Table, though when our numbers are high an occasional stool or otherwise non-matching gimp chair is added. For a while it seemed that the janitors had given up because in the past they had put the tables back in their original spots night. Of course, the next morning we moved them right back. At the beginning of this year the tables were left in place, but as of late the janitors have been putting them back. Recently the round tables returned which adds a completely new dimension to the table, since they perfectly fit in and over the square tables. The Table is positioned directly under a cold air vent adding its usual chill to the group, especially come winter. The unintelligibility of the music droning in the Rec and Outing Center is generally ignored, though a recognized song can bring comment and discussion.

Global Warming and Greenhouse Gases Essays -- Climate Change Environme

Global Warming and Greenhouse Gases The concentration of the atmosphere's main greenhouse gases specifically, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and water vapor, have increased significantly during the industrial age. These high concentrations are predicted to continue in the atmosphere for thousands of years to come. This increase in specially carbon dioxide, increases the infrared energy taken in by the atmosphere, and warming the earth's surface. The Global mean temperature over the past 150 years has risen between 0.3 degrees C and 0.6 degrees C. Climate changes that have been predicted are based on the continual rise in Green House Gases. These changes include changes in: increase in mean surface air temperature, increase in global mean rates of precipitation and evaporation, rising sea level, and changes in the biosphere. There are many causes to the rise in Green House Gases in the atmosphere. The rise in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is largely related to the combustion of fossil fuels and cement production (Hansen). The increase in methane is do to rice cultivation, animal husbandry, biomass burning, and landfills (Kattenberg). Nitrous oxide is on the rise because of industrial sources like adipic acid and nitric acid production (Kattenberg). Other gases not mentioned above that have a small impact on the Green House Gas proposed problem, is CFC-11 and CFC-12, these Gases are know to the public as being a big source of warming, although catalyzing decomposition of stratospheric ozone, they do not pose a great threat. Since the public was notified of these compounds in refrigerants, spray propellants, and foam blowing; the atmospheric concentrations have decreased greatly (Prather). .. ...the past 160,000 years." Nature, 345, 1990. Charlson, R. J. "Climate forcing by anthropogenic aerosols." Science 255, 1992. Douglas B. C. Global sea level rise, J. geophys. Res., 96 (C4), 6981-6992, 1991. Hansen, J. E. (1998). Climate forcings in the industrial era. Livermore: Willams Press. Kattenberg, A. (1996). Climate Change 1995: The Science of Climate Change.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Krabill. W. "Rapid thinning of parts of the southern Greenland ice sheet." Science 283, 1999. Peixoto, J. P., and A. H. Oort (1992). Physics of Climate. New York: American Institute of Physics. Prather, M. P. "The ozone layer: The road not taken." Nature 381, 1996. Wang, W. C. "Inadequacy of affective CO2 as a proxy in simulating the greenhouse effect of other radiatively active gases." Nature 350, 1991.

Psychological effects on women victims of domestic violence Essay

Campbell, Jacquelyn el â€Å"Intimate Partner Violence and Physical health Consequences†. Archives of Internal Medicine 162i 10 Article 7 (2002) The research was: â€Å"Intimate Partner Violence and Physical Health Consequence† where researchers were examining how violence affects a woman’s short term as well long term physical wellbeing. This study explored the area of abused and non abused women assessed the two groups for physical problems. Abused cases, either physically and or sexually were 201. This research employed Abuse Assessment Screen in its measurements (Wisner, 1999). Measures of physical abuse was done via use of Miller physical symptom and injury scale, that requires a woman to ascertain whether she has been to a doctor or nurse due to any of the 25 conditions related to domestic violence (Wisner, 1999). The results showed that women suffered more physical disorders as a result of abuse (Wisner, 1999). Such disorders were found to include headaches, back pain, STD s, vaginal bleeding, vaginal infections, pelvic pain, painful intercourse, urinary tract infections, appetite loss, abdominal pain as well as digestive problems, long terms effects were found to occur due to recurring central nervous system signals such as headaches, back pain, fading and hallucinations (Wisner, 1999). Domestic violence is associated with problems of the cardiovascular system, high blood pressure among others The importance of this study is that it offers clue on how women are fatally threatened by domestic violence (Wisner, 1999). Diseases such as cardiovascular and blood pressure are among the serial killer diseases within the society (women). This study relates to this topic in that psychological effects are secondary to physical effects. For instance, where a woman gets her back broken as a result of domestic violence, even if the back heals she remains psychologically affected by the memories of this ordeal for the rest of her life (Wisner, 1999). Future implications of the study are that it is important for the public to be educated on matters relating to domestic violence. There is also the need to provide better medical attention to women of domestic violence, that is, there should be well trained physicians to deal with female patients involved in domestic violence (Wisner, 1999). This would mean increased costs on health planners (Wisner, 1999). Reference Wisner, C. , Gilmer, T. , Saltzman, L. , Zinc. T (1999). Intimate Partner Violence Against Women. Do victims cost health plans more? Journal of Family Practice, June.

Poe’s Devices for Heightening the Effect of Terror and Horror in Short Stories Essay

Edgar Allan Poe, an American poet, critic and writer of the XIX-th century, is a world- recognised master of the horror genre. Poe’s Tales of Arabesque clearly demonstrate his talent for cultivation of mystery, terror, and macabre. The process of this horror cultivation is very subtle and complicated. Poe, like an artist of arabesque who intertwines and interlaces flowers into an elaborate pattern, weaves a net of mystery and horror and entangles the reader in it. Poe starts any work ‘with consideration of the effect’ it would have on the reader. All other stages of story creation and literary devices used for it depend on that main effect. Thus, the genre of Poe’s works, their plot structure, type of narration, word choice, and imagery are the devices, with the help of which Poe creates and heightens the effect of terror and horror. Such works as ‘The Cask of Amontillado’, ‘MS Found in a Bottle’, and ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’ serve as vivid examples of Poe’s sophisticated but very effective horror creating technique. The effect produced by the work on its reader largely depends on the genre of this work. It is no mere chance that Poe chooses the genre of a short story for his works of horror. On the one hand, a short story provides the writer with enough space to intrigue the reader, to rouse his interest in the plot. ‘MS Found in a Bottle’, for example, invites the reader to take part in a fantastic adventure in the midst of the stormy ocean. On the other hand, the plot unfolds very quickly, leaving no time for reasoning and meditation, keeping the senses heightened and sharp. Thus the perception of horror deepens and strengthens. Short forms of a short story bind the reader to pay closer attention to every word, to every comma and exclamation mark. Words used to create the atmosphere of terror and mystery become more colourful, more significant and profound: metaphors grow into symbols, symbols – to allegories. In ‘The Cask of Amontillado’, for example, the suspense of something terrible increases with every step Fortunato makes into the depth of the Montresors’ catacombs, with his every cough, with every proposal of Montresor to come back. But the effect of horror is heightened not only by length of a story, but also by its plot structure. A very short introduction or its complete absence and the disjunction placed at the very beginning of the story put the reader into the coarse of events at once. The events are mostly proleptic; being unaware of their meaning readers start experiencing nervousness and alarm, they feel that some dark, arcane mystery is about to uncover. The reversal in a short story comes to the end and it always comes unexpectedly. With the help of this device the writer shocks the reader, greatly intensifying his horror. Thus, terrified with the gloomy atmosphere of the Roderick’s castle and the constant sensation of trouble, the reader gets truly horrified at the sight of Roderick’s dead sister, lady Madeline, suddenly revived to life. The absence of a resolution prolongs the shock from the terrible mystery uncovered; or, as it is in ‘MS Found in a Bottle’, – the mystery that can never be resolved. The manner in which the story is narrated is no less important for heightening the effect of horror than its very plot. Though all the three stories proposed for this study are narrated in the first person, they are told in various types of the first person. These types differ by four main aspects. The first one is the part that the narrator plays in the story and his influence on the course of events. The narrator of the ‘The Cask of Amontillado’ is the central figure of the plot, moreover, he is its moving force. The reality of the story is revealed to us through Montresor’s eyes and is estimated by him. The reader is always with the narrator and as the narrator is a murderer the reader becomes his unwilling accomplice to murder. The horror of being a murderer is absolute. The narrator of ‘MS Found in a Bottle’ is also the central figure of the plot, all the events happen to him and are described by him. Being always together with the narrator, the reader embarks on a dangerous, perilous, hair-rising adventure, which ends as unexpectedly as it begins. Unlike the previous two stories, ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’ is not a story about the narrator. It is Roderick Usher who is in the centre of the plot, it is his mind and his life that we are interested in. But as we are with the narrator, who is an observer and estimator of events, we can only feel the dark mystery of the House of Usher, but can not penetrate into. There is no greater horror than that of mystery and no greater terror than that of the unknown. The second aspect in which the three first person narrations differ is the use of tenses. Poe intentionally tells ‘The Cask of Amontillado’ in the past and presents all the events in chronological order. This device helps the writer to show the mind and actions of an insane person, who carefully plans a murder and methodically carries it out. Because of such step- by-step development of the plot the feeling of horror progressively grows higher and sensations of terror deposit. In ‘MS Found in a Bottle’ the writer builds up the narration in a way to bring the story closer to the reality and to the reader. That’s why he makes use not only of the past tense, but also of the present and even the present continuous. By describing the mysterious ship in the present the writer transports the reader on its deck, makes him feel the tossing of the ship, inhale the salty air. The use of the present continuous in the very end of the story heightens the horror and despair of being ‘amid a roaring, and bellowing, and thundering of ocean and of tempest’. The syntactic structure of the final passage – short abrupt sentences separated by dashes – creates the effect of the stream of consciousness and makes the reader not only the witness, but a participant of the final scene. The three main tenses of ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’- past perfect, past, and future – expand the borders of the events narrated. The past tense helps the writer to describe Roderick Usher as a reserved, mysterious, gloomy, melancholic, and abnormally sensitive person. The flash back made into Roderick’s childhood with the help of the past perfect shows that he has always been that kind of person and all his ancestors were like him. The future shows that though the House of Usher fell the mystery of it will never be solved. Thus the sense of ‘insufferable gloom’ and FEAR, which Roderick and his house arouse in the reader, roots in the ancient past and prolongs itself into the future. The final aspect that makes each of the three stories unique is the structure of the narration. ‘The Cask of Amontillado’ is formed of a combination of dialog, monologue, and description. These are the dialogues here that are of particular interest to the study. Dialogues of ‘The Cask’ are short and abrupt. Answers given to the questions are brief and concrete ( ‘Nitre? ‘ he asked, at length. ‘Nitre,’ I replied. ). This device makes every single word symbolic. Dialogues here are the part of the imagery that helps to draw the picture of horror and expectation of threat. Dialogues of ‘The House of Usher’ differ from those of ‘The Cask’. They are long, descriptive, and complicated. Some dialogues between the narrator and his friend grow into the monologues of Roderick. The final monologue of Roderick composed of broken and disconnected sentences shows the shock of horror Roderick experienced when he felt that Madeline was back from her tomb. This shock extends to the narrator and to the reader. ‘MS Found in a Bottle’ consists of a single monologue. The changing speech of the narrator reflects his mood and influences the mood of the reader. But the main function of this monologue is to create the hostile, tense, and gloomy atmosphere of the confusing reality. The main thing that influences the way in which the story effects the reader is the setting. Poe uses various stylistic devices to create a sinister setting and thus heighten the effect of horror and terror in his short stories. Metaphor is one of the most important stylistic devices. It enables the writer to describe implicitly the thing or notion for which there is no name in the common language, or a feeling ‘which will admit to no analysis’. Thus, for example, the supernatural wild ocean is named ‘watery hell’ or ‘chaos of water’. Simile helps to describe the indescribable in a more explicit form. Such similes as ‘waters rear heads like demons of the deep’, or ‘crew glide like the ghosts of the buried centuries’ arouse associations with death, mystery, and myth. And the comparison of the windows of the house of Usher with blind eyes inspires us to take the house as a living creature, strange and dangerous. Another device, used to animate inanimate objects is personification. Whatever Poe personifies – the wind (‘breath of wind’), silence (‘obstinate silence’), tempest (‘bellow of the tempest’), or air (‘wild air’) -it becomes brighter and more profound. Epithets carry out a chief function in creating the main images of the stories and drawing their sinister and horrifying settings. Thus, the ocean in ‘MS Found in a Bottle’ is described as unfathomable, terrible and thundering; the ship is gigantic and supernatural; the house of Usher is melancholy and ancient, it has bleak walls, dark intricate passages, Gothic archways, vaulted ceilings, and it inspires a ‘sense of insufferable gloom’ and ‘unredeemed dreariness’; the vaults of the Montresors are dark, damp and sombre. Poe frequently uses epithets that show the extreme quality, power, or size of an object described. Such epithets as intolerably hot wind, extreme fury, immense pressure, terrific breakers, and colossal supports form the fantastic reality of Poe’s works. An immense impact on our senses and feelings is made by colour and light words. Poe paints his gloomy settings with four main colours: black, red, grey, and yellow. These colours, however, never repeat those that we are used to, they are always unique and special. Poe sees every subtle hue of the colour and observes the way it ‘behaves’. Red, for example, is presented in two main hues: dusky-red and blood-red; it glares, streams down, or gleams in encrimsoned light. Red is the colour of blood and is therefore associated with pain and murder. Black, ebony black, and deep dingy black are the colours of ‘eternal night’ and ‘pitchy darkness’. They symbolise death, burial, fear, horror, and misfortune. Grey and leaden-hued arouse associations with ghosts, shadows, something elusive, mysterious, and imperceptible. Yellow or sickly yellow is traditionally regarded as the colour of disease, sickness, and insanity. The light in the stories is never bright but is always indiscrete, feeble, sluggish, faintly discernible, ghastly and mystic. And the gloomy setting created with the help of these hues of light can arouse in the reader nothing but the sensation of growing fear. In the conclusion it would be necessary to mention, that Edgar Allan Poe is an unsurpassed master of the horror creating technique. He uses such devices as genre, structure of the plot, type and structure of narration, vivid imagery, settings, colour, and light to heighten the effect of terror and horror in his short stories. The contribution he made into the development of the horror genre can not be overestimated.