Break-Even Point of Industry Essay Example for Free

Break-Even Point of Industry Essay 1. Airbus’ Interests Objectives First of all, the large and cost-efficient A3XX would be popular with significant growth in the air transportation industry. Worldwide passenger traffic would almost triple in volume by 2019, with fuel price rising in the future. Creating large and cost-efficient aircrafts, rather than increasing frequencies and building new routes, would be the long-term solutions to the problem of growing demand. Therefore, this project will be strategically significant. Secondly, Airbus wants to gain market shares in the VLA market and break up the monopoly of the 747, but it didn’t have a product to compete with Boeing’s 747. Compared to the 747, the A3XX provides more advantageous features which would attract passengers especially on the longer routes, such as more space per seat, four-engine plane, etc. The combination of increased capacity and reduced costs would provide superior economics. Airbus felt confident that capacity increases would eventually prevail. As we stated above, Airbus’s objectives are to break up the monopoly of the 747, to increase its market share in the VLA market, to gain enormous financial success and to be an industry leader. 2. Break-Even Point Market Demand Production will be able to reach full capacity from 2008, with order and delivery assumed on a stable level. During this period, the capital expenditure will be offset by depreciation in calculation of free cash flow, and RD will be included in the operating margin. The company, as assumed, will produce and deliver 22 aircrafts for the airlines which have ordered, with 6 in 2006 and 16 in 2007. Since $700 million would have already been spent before the decision, this amount of investment should be treated as sunk cost, therefore irrelevant to the NPV analysis. To break even, with assumed operating margin of 18%, Airbus should produce and sell about 40 VLAs every year since 2008, or 495 in total before 2019. Taking the estimated margin from Lehman Brothers and CS First Boston into consideration, total orders needed for break-even can range from 306 to 509 in 20 years. From the view of Airbus, the market demand for VLA, 1550 in years, is large enough to take this project. And it is pretty safe to launch the development since, even with lowest estimated margin, 38% of total market share will guarantee a break-even. However, Boeing gives a totally different perspective and a much lower forecast on potential market demand. Under this estimation, A3XX development will have little chance to make a profit. Airbus should take at least half a market on VLA to make that project fruitful. 3. Boeing’s Response Based on the analysis before, the VLA market is so promising that Airbus is very likely to launch the A3XX. Facing with this threat, the most important move for Boeing is to prevent Airbus from dominating the VLA market. Therefore, Boeing can cut the price of existing 747 product lines and produce 747 stretch as response to Airbus. Producing 747 stretch which may contain 550+ passengers wont be too costly for Boeing since is a modification over the current model, and that can powerfully compete with A3XX in the VLA market. Before the stretch version is market available, Boeing can offer a price cutting of the existing 747 which can not only divert sales away from A3XX, but also make A3XX project less attractive. Other alternatives might not fit. Firstly, fighting the A3XX on legal grounds (improper subsidies) will probably induce the revenge complain from Airbus, making Boeing itself to pay a large penalty. Secondly, to develop its own super jumbo jet is costly and maybe not profitable. What’s worse, in 1997 Boeing faced the first loss in more than 50 years, it’s better for Boeing to have a prudent stable strategy than an aggressive investing. 4. The Threshold To Launch We think Airbus should commit to build A3XX. The Annual Sales and Orders as of 1999 show that Airbus currently faces a disadvantage in competition with Boeing on almost every size of passenger aircraft. Worse is that, while Boeing pockets the market for VLA, Airbus even has no product to compete. Breaking the monopoly on this market becomes critical for Airbus, which is aiming to lead the industry. Strategic significance of A3XX makes this project worth an effort. Compared with the situation when Boeing launched its 747 development with 25 initial orders, the current 22 orders, with other 34 probable, is not a negative sign to commit the project. However, there would also be great risk in the new aircraft development. The possible poor market demand will make the project unprofitable. More important is that new A3XX should be sold quickly in early years to exploit learning curve effect on manufactory and seize market before Boeing reacts.

Honey Markets in the Nilgiris Biosphere Reserve (NBR)

Honey Markets in the Nilgiris Biosphere Reserve (NBR) p>A STUDY ON THE HONEY MARKETS OF NILGIRIS BIOSPHERE RESERVE INSTITUTE OF RURAL MANAGEMENT ANAND EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The project that we have worked on is Honey markets in the Nilgiris Biosphere Reserve (NBR). In this study we have traced the flow of honey from the honey hunters of NBR to the end consumers. This study is a part of a larger study, Darwin Initiative, aimed at studying the underlying linkages between Bees, Biodiversity and Livelihood in the NBR, undertaken by Keystone foundation along with University of East Anglia and Bees for Development. For the study on Honey markets in the NBR, six sites were chosen from the sixteen sites chosen for Darwin Initiative, based on the accessibility of the site, the predominant trade channels present (based on previously available information, the sites were divided as formal and informal markets), the number of honey hunters in the site (used as a proxy to determine amount of honey collected in the sites to ensure presence of high and low honey collecting areas) and also ensuring that all the three states (Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh) were represented. Three sites with formal trade channels and three sites with informal trade channels were selected. In the selected sites, a few honey hunters, all the traders and institutional buyers and forest officials were interviewed to compose the value chain of honey. The impact of Price, Credit, State regulation, Volume of honey collected in the site, presence of an accessible institutional buyer at the site, presence of a powerful leader and direct access of consumers to the honey hunters on the sale of honey by the honey hunter was studied and analyzed across the six sites. Of the factors considered, price, presence of an institutional buyer and the presence of a powerful leader had a significant impact on the flow of honey. Based on the above obtained information, the value chain of honey was drawn for all the six sites. 1. INTRODUCTION The project that we had to work is Honey flow in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve. In this study we have analyzed the flow of honey from the native indigenous honey hunters in the forest to the end consumers in the area of Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve. According to the Codex Alimentarius the definition of honey is as follows: Honey is the unfermented, natural sweet substance produced by honeybees from the nectar of blossoms or from secretions of living parts of plants or excretions of plant-sucking insects on the living parts of plants, which honeybees collect, transform and combine with specific substances of their own, store and leave in the honey comb to ripen and mature. Honey shall not have any objectionable flavour, aroma or taint absorbed from foreign matter during its production, harvesting, processing and storage and shall not contain natural plant toxins in an amount that may constitute hazard to health. The honey collected in Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve is from four different sources depending on the type of honey bees collecting them i.e. Apis cerana, Apis dorsata, Apis florea and Apis dammer. Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve is the first internationally designated Biosphere Reserve of India. It was established in the year 1986 under the proposition of UNESCO. It comprises the three states of Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. It covers 0.15% of Indias land area i.e. an area of 5520 sq. km and is home to a wide variety of flora and fauna. The NBR has six protected areas and more than five different types of forests. The major honey zones in the area include Kotagiri and Coonoor areas of Nilgiris, Sigur, Mukkurthi, Mudumalai, Bandipur, Nagarhole, Wynad, Silent Valley, Nilambur, and New Amarambalam Reserve Forest, Attapadi Valley, Pillur Valley, Anaikatti, Boluvampatti and Sathyamangalam Hills. It also home to a large number of indigenous communities, most of them forest dwellers and hunter gatherers. There around eighteen ethnic groups living in the area each of these having small populations and living in geographical concentrations. Not all the ethnic groups engage in honey hunti ng, the main honey hunters are Sholigas, Kattunaickens, Kurumbas, Cholanaickens and Irulas. Todas generally collect honey for home consumption and minor sales. The dorsata honey which is generally obtained from combs that are built in cliffs and not all the tribals engage in cliff honey hunting. Kurumbas are the experts in cliff hunting of honey whereas Irulas collect it from giant trees. The cerana honey is generally collected from tree cavities whereas florea and dammer honey is collected in small quantities from twigs and cavities in walls. The dammer honey is highly priced and used for medicinal purposes. Each of this ethnic group specializes in different ways and methods to collect honey which has given rise to specific techniques and traditions. Honey hunting is a seasonal activity for them; it starts in March and extends up to June. Thus the activity happens only for a period of three to four months in a year. Honey forms a component of the Non Timber Forest Produce which is commonly known as Minor Forest Produce. In this study we have tried to capture the existing market for honey operating in the major honey zones of the Nilgiris Biosphere Reserve. We met the different native honey hunters engaged in this vocation and enquired about the various selling options that they have. This study looks at how markets function work in these areas and identifies and analyses the factors affecting the honey market. The study tries to explore the various channels through which honey reaches the consumer from the hunter. It also analyzes the major factors affecting the emergence and establishment of particular channel in an area. The study also tries to explain how each channel function in an area, the intermediaries involved, their roles in the channel. The study also describes the value chain of honey with the prices at which different intermediaries purchase honey and wax. For the purpose of study specific sites were selected in the NBR to study the honey market and track the honey flow. This report begins by giving a brief idea about the context in which these markets are operating followed by the methodology adopted for the selection of sites. The market existing in these sites are then described followed by an analysis of all the sites. 2. POLICIES AND STATE REGULATIONS There is neither any policy on NTFP in the state of Karnataka or any laws that have direct consequences on NTFP its collection, processing and marketing. Several legal documents have some rules regarding the extraction of certain NTFPs such as the Karnataka Forest Manual, The Karnataka Forest Act 1963 etc but by far it does not restrict the collection of honey. The state of Karnataka has defined MFP through its Karnataka Forest Act, 1963 as forest produce other than timber, sandal wood, firewood, charcoals, bamboos and minerals, and includes forest produce such as myrobolans, barks, fibres, flosses, gums, resin, dyes, grass, leaves, roots, fruits, seeds, creepers, reeds, moss, lichens, wood-oil, honey, wax, lac, wild animals, wild birds, horns, hides, bones, tusks etc. The Karnataka Forest department has allowed the collection of 45 items from the leased forest areas. The price fixation of these MFPs is done by Karnataka LAMPS. The Tamilnadu Forest department allowed 23 items for collection from the leased forest areas. There is no proper definition for MFP in the state. The price fixation mechanism operating for these products is through the Tamil Nadu Forest Department. Honey does not figure in the list of allowable items for collection. In the state of Kerala, forest department permitted 100 items to Tribal Services Cooperative Societies(TSCS) for extraction from the leased forest areas. The price fixation mechanism operating here is through Kerala Minor Forest Products committee. Honey and wax collection in the state is not banned but it is regulated through Cooperative Societies. In these states for several years the trade of NTFP had been in favour of private contractors. Recently the government guideline for constitution of Village Forest Committee has, to some extent, kept the private traders away but the NTFP market is still with the hand of those traders. With the absence of any legal documents, the states like Tamil Nadu have complicated the NTFP management. The Tamil Nadu state Act has not defined NTFP and there are no transit rules for movement of produces outside the states. 3. METHODOLOGY The study was carried out in a sample of six sites out of the total sixteen Darwin sites. The sampling which was suggested earlier on societies may not give a uniform analysis as these function only in Kerala and parts of Karnataka. Hence we have chosen six Darwin sites for the purpose of study. The six sites chosen to study the value chain of honey under the Darwin Initiative were selected on the basis of the following criteria. Type of trade (formal or informal trade). Number of honey hunters in the site. Representation of all the three states Research Sites Region , State Indigenous Community No of hhlds No. Hhlds inter-viewed No.of Honey hunting Hhlds Trade Aspects 1 Bedaguli Chamraj Nagar Karnataka Sholiga, Kannadiga 55 55 25 Collection is banned. 2 Kannur Sathy Tamil Nadu Sholiga 96 48 30 Collection is banned in Tamil Nadu, but the Village Forest Council (VFC) collects honey from harvesters along with other NTFPs. 3 Kalidimbam Sathy Tamil Nadu Irula 55 55 20 Collection is banned in Tamil Nadu, but the Village Forest Council (VFC) collects honey from harvesters along with other NTFPs. 4 Athoor Chamraj Nagar Karnataka Sholigas, Kannadiga2 Badaga3 103 52 14 Collection is banned. 5 Comop Coonoor Tamil Nadu Kurumba 7 7 4 Honey is sold to green shop Keystone in Coonoor both honey as well as beeswax. Occasionally sold to other local shops as well. 6 Pudukadu Coonoor Tamil Nadu Kurumba 34 34 4 The Honey is sold to shops on the Coonoor- Mettupalayam highway 7 Situkunni Coonoor Tamil Nadu Irula 10 10 1-2 Sold to local traders, tourists and occasionally to Keystones centre. 8 Kobo Kotagiri Tamil Nadu Toda 9 9 3-4 Honey is collected mostly for personal consumption. 9 Koduthen mund Kotagiri Tamil Nadu Toda, Others 4 8 8 1-2 Cerana honey collected for consumption but not regularly. 10 Tunieri Kotagiri Tamil Nadu Badaga, Others 320 51 None None of the households are engaged in HH. 11 Perur Sigur Tamil Nadu Kattunaicken 51 51 18 The product is sold within the village, tourists and local customers or to Kallur cooperative society in Kerala. 12 Chemmanatham Sigur Tamil Nadu Kasava/Irula 44 44 5-10 Honey collection is banned. It is collected and sold to local traders or the numerous resorts adjacent to the Mudumalai sanctuary. 13 Siriyoor Sigur Tamil Nadu Kasava/Irula/Jenu Kurumba 52 52 7-10 Honey collection is banned. It is collected and sold to local traders or the numerous resorts adjacent to the Mudumalai sanctuary. 14 Nala Nilambur Kerala Kattunaicken, Paniyas 54 54 15-20 Honey is sold to the cooperative society. Society has a captive market as selling outside is illegal. 15 Mancheri Nilambur Kerala Cholanaicken 145* All caves have Honey Hunters Honey is sold to the society Bees wax is also sold to the society. Society has a captive market as selling outside is illegal. 16 Mundakadavu Nilambur Kerala Padinaickens, Paniyas 29 29 6 Honey is sold to the society and to the local traders. Bees wax is also sold to the society for Rs.120/kg. Society has a captive market as selling outside is illegal. Table 1: Information about honey trade across Darwin sites As mentioned above the criteria used for selection of site for the study of value chain of honey from the Darwin sites were the type of trade (formal or informal trade), number of honey hunters in the site and the representation of all the three states. These criteria were applied to the sites in the above mentioned order. The Darwin sites were initially categorized into one of the three trade types prevalent by large. Throughout our study, we have used the terms formal, informal trade to describe the trade channels existing in the different sites. Informal trade includes the honey collection and trade in the area where it is banned by law and is not allowed by the forest officials. This kind of a trade can be seen on the Karnataka part of NBR. By Informal trade we refer to honey trade with private traders and the flow through informal channels of trade. Here there is no organizational set up for buying honey. The honey traded here is unbilled. Honey trade in Tamil Nadu is not allowed by law but it is permitted by the forest officials. This is also included under informal trade. Honey collection and trade in this area happen with the knowledge of the forest officials. The above mentioned are considered as permitted trade. The permit ted trade, can again be formal and informal trade. By formal trade, we refer to honey trade with organizations like keystone (in Tamil Nadu) or cooperative societies (in Kerala). In this, the honey traded is billed. Honey collection and trade in Kerala is permitted by law. The following table shows the classification of Darwin sites according to the type of trade Table 2: Classification of Darwin sites based on the type of trade INFORMAL TRADE FORMAL TRADE ATHOOR MANCHERI BEDAGULI KANNUR PERUR KALIDIMBAM SIRIYUR NALA CHEMMANATHAM MUNDAKADAVU PUTHUKADU COMOP KOBO KODUTHENMUNDU SITUKUNNI Tuneri has not been included in the table because no honey collection takes place there. In the next step, the sites were ranked based on the number of honey hunting households present in the village. The following table shows the sites ranked in descending order of honey hunters present in a village. Table 3: Sites selected for the study INFORMAL TRADE FORMAL TRADE NAME HH NAME HH BEDAGULI (KARNATAKA) 25 MANCHERI (KERALA) 36 PERUR (TN) 18 KANNUR (TN) 30 ATHOOR (KARNATAKA) 14 KALIDIMBAM (TN) 20 SIRIYUR (TN) 7 NALA (KERALA) 15 CHEMMANATHAM (TN) 5 MUNDAKADAVU (TN) 6 PUTHUKADU (TN) 4 COMOP (TN) 4 KOBO (TN) 3 KODUTHENMUNDU (TN) 1 SITUKUNNI (TN) 1 After the sites were ranked, they were selected based on the number of honey hunters and other factors as mentioned below Athoor and Bedaguli are the two Darwin sites in Karnataka. In these sites, honey hunting is banned as per the state regulation and is also not permitted by the forest officials. In spite of it, honey is being collected there. Athoor was chosen over Bedaguli in the state of Karnataka because of the following reasons Easy accessibility. Athoor is located on a highway (Sathyamangalam Mysore highway). Athoor is the only site that is located on a highway and has the possibility of sale to travelers on the road. It has the potential for retail trade by honey hunters. There are nine sites that fall under the informal trade category including the two sites in Karnataka. Of these seven sites, Perur had the highest number of honey hunters (more than twice the number of the second highest) and was selected. Koduthenmundu and Situkunni were not selected for low honey flow areas even though they had only one honey hunting house hold each because the hunters here do not go for honey hunting every year. So Kobo with three honey hunting house holds was selected as the site for low honey flow area under the informal trade category. In the formal trade category, Mancheri (even though it has the highest number of honey hunting house holds) was not selected because of accessibility problems. Kannur with thirty house holds was selected as the site for high honey flow and Comop with the least number of honey hunting house holds in the category was selected. Then the selected

Effects of Temperature on Enzyme Amylase

Effects of Temperature on Enzyme Amylase Introduction Enzymatic reactions are very paramount in the body and in nature too as they ensure that any reactions including Biological processes are hastened in order to achieve the results within the shortest time possible. In the body, there are many enzymes and enzyme amylase is one of the most significant as it aids in degradation of complex carbohydrates into glucose molecules which are absorbable. Apart from natural salivary amylase, there are also industrial amylases which catalyze processes at different ecological environment varying from the body environments. However, whether natural or synthetic amylase, their catalysis is affected by temperatures and they only yield maximally at optimal temperature. The following report will discuss effects of different range of temperatures on synthetic reactions. Aims The aims of this practical were to investigate the effects of temperature on reaction of enzyme amylase. In addition, the practical investigated the possibility of industrial enzyme amylase to function at higher temperatures. Materials The materials and apparatus used included Spotting tile, water bath, test tube, starch solution amylase, iodine, and test tube rack. Procedure Two drops of iodine into each well put test tube.   2ml starch placed over water bath that was set at three different temperatures 40, 60, 80 degrees was allowed to remain there for 5 minutes. First tube contained 2ml of starch, second tube 4ml of amylase, and then they were mixed together. Finally, was introduced into few drops of the mixture into the well already containing iodine Results The results obtained indicated that industrial amylase functioned well at 40 degree Celsius. Starch was degraded into glucose hence the color of Iodine changed to blue-black when the test tube containing amylase at 40 degree Celsius. However, the color of iodine remained brown after introduction of amylase enzymes heated at 60 and 80 degree respectively. Discussion Amylase whether natural or industrial is proteins in nature. They are responsible for the breakdown of carbohydrates into its smallest units called glucose. However, temperature has a very significant role in the reactions involving these enzymes . Lower temperatures deactivate the reaction of enzymes while higher temperatures above optimal temperatures destroy the enzymes by denaturing them hence reducing their reactions and eventually bring it into a halt . In this practical, the industrial amylase was found to function better at 40 degree which is optimal. This therefore did not denature the enzymes nor did this temperature deactivate them. The reactions here were constant and rapid. The enzyme amylase was able to work on starch solution in the well whereby it reduced the starch into glucose. Eventually, the color of resulting iodine remained brown. This indicated that there was no starch present in the solution. Iodine is the reagent that is commonly used to test the presence of starch in a food sample. Presence of starch is portrayed by the change of Iodine color from brown to blue-black Consequently, the amylase heated at 60 and introduced in other wells containing starch did not catalyze any reaction. This is because the high temperatures had already denatured the enzymes and completely destroying them. This led to changes in the color of iodine from brown to blue-black since the solutions contained starch. On the other hand, the reaction at 80 degree too did not show signify degradation of starch by enzyme amylase. Therefore, the color of iodine changed to blue-black from brown as it was evident in previous reaction at 60 degree. This therefore confirmed the denaturation of enzymes by high temperatures hence acted as a confirmatory test. Industrial amylase can withstand higher temperature hence optimal temperature was beyond the 37 degree which is the maximum optimal temperature in the human body where natural amylase if found . Conclusion In conclusion, the practical found that enzyme amylase is capable of degrading starch at optimal temperature. Enzymes are very important in many Biological reactions which are important in the production of important and helpful products. Knowledge about the optimal requirements is paramount in enzymatic reactions since its only at necessary environment that an enzyme is able to catalyze a reaction.

Godfather II :: essays papers

Godfather II The real importance of any movie can't be adequately appraised solely by box office success or critical response. 'The Godfather Part II† is an example of how a carefully crafted sequel to a great film can become both a box office and critical success when attention is paid to its artistic quality. The movie continues the tale of the Corleone family, and presents to the viewers a world filled with greed and betrayal, family union and loyalty. A companion piece in the truest sense of the term, â€Å"The Godfather Part II† earned as much praise as its predecessor, if not more. Earning twelve Academy Award nominations, the second installment has been rightfully hailed as the best sequel of all time. While "The Godfather, Part II" did not exceed the box office gross of the original, the movie can still be considered a blockbuster, and not at all a flop. â€Å"The Godfather† earned instant success when it was first released in 1972. Earning both praise from critics and box office success, making about $135 million, the movie became an instant classic. One of the reasons for the high status of â€Å"The Godfather Part II† lies in the fact that the movie was authored by the same author with the same intent in mind. While other sequels usually serve as nothing more than easy way for unimaginative producers to cash on previous successes, â€Å"The Godfather Part II† was a nice opportunity for â€Å"Coppola to experiment, correct some possible flaws or even answer to critics of his previous work.† (Dragan Antulov, IMDB) The biggest and most serious objection to â€Å"The Godfather† was Coppola's allegedly apologetic portrayal the Mafia. Coppola was accused of showing organized crime as being more noble and less violent than it actually was. His Mafiosi are shown as dedicated family men, opposed to narcot ics and any unnecessary violence, and in some way even better alternative to legitimate government. In the second movie, Coppola intended to use the story of the first part to paint more realistic and, consequently, much darker picture. Instant financial success did not follow â€Å"The Godfather Part Two† as it did the first movie. The reason was created due to the fact that the second movie represented one of the examples of the now generally despised practice in modern Hollywood, making sequels out of the successful, great movies. Godfather II :: essays papers Godfather II The real importance of any movie can't be adequately appraised solely by box office success or critical response. 'The Godfather Part II† is an example of how a carefully crafted sequel to a great film can become both a box office and critical success when attention is paid to its artistic quality. The movie continues the tale of the Corleone family, and presents to the viewers a world filled with greed and betrayal, family union and loyalty. A companion piece in the truest sense of the term, â€Å"The Godfather Part II† earned as much praise as its predecessor, if not more. Earning twelve Academy Award nominations, the second installment has been rightfully hailed as the best sequel of all time. While "The Godfather, Part II" did not exceed the box office gross of the original, the movie can still be considered a blockbuster, and not at all a flop. â€Å"The Godfather† earned instant success when it was first released in 1972. Earning both praise from critics and box office success, making about $135 million, the movie became an instant classic. One of the reasons for the high status of â€Å"The Godfather Part II† lies in the fact that the movie was authored by the same author with the same intent in mind. While other sequels usually serve as nothing more than easy way for unimaginative producers to cash on previous successes, â€Å"The Godfather Part II† was a nice opportunity for â€Å"Coppola to experiment, correct some possible flaws or even answer to critics of his previous work.† (Dragan Antulov, IMDB) The biggest and most serious objection to â€Å"The Godfather† was Coppola's allegedly apologetic portrayal the Mafia. Coppola was accused of showing organized crime as being more noble and less violent than it actually was. His Mafiosi are shown as dedicated family men, opposed to narcot ics and any unnecessary violence, and in some way even better alternative to legitimate government. In the second movie, Coppola intended to use the story of the first part to paint more realistic and, consequently, much darker picture. Instant financial success did not follow â€Å"The Godfather Part Two† as it did the first movie. The reason was created due to the fact that the second movie represented one of the examples of the now generally despised practice in modern Hollywood, making sequels out of the successful, great movies.

Eulogy for Grandmother :: Eulogies Eulogy

Eulogy for Grandmother I looked at myself in the mirror. I noticed the lines of my face and the curve of my neck. I looked down at my hands remembering the moment I first realized that they looked like hers. Long, thin, delicate hands perfect for playing the piano or braiding cornrows. All my life I had not noticed until the day I sat at her bedside holding her hand in mine. She had told me that she was not afraid to die. We sat in silence for a long time, sometimes sharing a stare and a smile. I don't know how long I sat there, looking at her, realizing for the first time who I looked so much like. As I stood in front of the mirror, I remembered that day as I prepared for her funeral. Sarah Smith, my grandmother's going home day. My father asked me to do her eulogy. I had thought and thought of what to say. The words didn't come until the morning of her funeral. That morning I went to the lake where me, my brothers, and my sister would go swimming in the summer on weekend visits to my grandmother's. As I soaked in the sun and watched its rays dance on the waters a memory came. As a child there were only two people that I would let touch my hair, my mother and my grandmother. Cornrowing my hair was an event when my grandmother did it. She would take me out on the stoop, bringing a chair for herself, and I would sit in front of her with my head between her knees. Moving my head in reaction to the slightest direction from her hands became natural. Other women and children would come and sit while she picked out my hair and greased my scalp. I would listen to the women talk. I don't remember anything that was said but I do remember the comfort of the stoop and my grandmother's fingers doing magic in my hair. Sitting on the dock I realized that I had never known my grandmother's life story. I don't know the struggles she must have had as a black woman in the South raising two sons alone because her husband beat her, and she had told him enough was enough. I don't know what it was that kept her going through poverty. I do know that her trust and love in God was deeply rooted in her heart. Eulogy for Grandmother :: Eulogies Eulogy Eulogy for Grandmother I looked at myself in the mirror. I noticed the lines of my face and the curve of my neck. I looked down at my hands remembering the moment I first realized that they looked like hers. Long, thin, delicate hands perfect for playing the piano or braiding cornrows. All my life I had not noticed until the day I sat at her bedside holding her hand in mine. She had told me that she was not afraid to die. We sat in silence for a long time, sometimes sharing a stare and a smile. I don't know how long I sat there, looking at her, realizing for the first time who I looked so much like. As I stood in front of the mirror, I remembered that day as I prepared for her funeral. Sarah Smith, my grandmother's going home day. My father asked me to do her eulogy. I had thought and thought of what to say. The words didn't come until the morning of her funeral. That morning I went to the lake where me, my brothers, and my sister would go swimming in the summer on weekend visits to my grandmother's. As I soaked in the sun and watched its rays dance on the waters a memory came. As a child there were only two people that I would let touch my hair, my mother and my grandmother. Cornrowing my hair was an event when my grandmother did it. She would take me out on the stoop, bringing a chair for herself, and I would sit in front of her with my head between her knees. Moving my head in reaction to the slightest direction from her hands became natural. Other women and children would come and sit while she picked out my hair and greased my scalp. I would listen to the women talk. I don't remember anything that was said but I do remember the comfort of the stoop and my grandmother's fingers doing magic in my hair. Sitting on the dock I realized that I had never known my grandmother's life story. I don't know the struggles she must have had as a black woman in the South raising two sons alone because her husband beat her, and she had told him enough was enough. I don't know what it was that kept her going through poverty. I do know that her trust and love in God was deeply rooted in her heart.

Briefly Outline a Selection of Victorian Values

This essay is going to briefly outline a section of Victoria values such as separate spheres, religion and family. Outside the family sphere, one had to strive for self-improvement and industry in ones working life, and developed nations. The main focus of this essay is going to be on fallen woman. In the Victorian era women were seen as pure and clean because of this view, their bodies were seen as temples which should not be adorned with jewellery. A woman should be reminded that marrying she gives up many advantages.A few artists such as William Holman Hunt and Augustus Leopold Egg and many more portrayed these Victorian values through narrative artwork and this essay is going to discuss a few of these artist’s paintings such as The Awakening Conscience and Past and Present. The role of women was to have children and tend to the house in contrast to men, according to the concept of Victorian masculinity. If they didn’t achieve this the their husbands would have mistr esses outside their marriage. Decorating the home and wearing fine dresses became a way for women to express themselves.Religion went through it's changes as Victorian's lost interest in God. [Patterson 2007 online] However, Great Revivals would sweep across the countries of the world changing the lives of many. The separate spheres framework holds that men possessed the capacity for reason, action, aggression, independence, and self-interest thus belonging to the public sphere. Women inhabited a separate, private sphere, one suitable for the so called inherent qualities of femininity: emotion, passivity, submission, dependence, and selflessness, all derived, it was claimed insistently, form women’s sexual and reproductive organization. Patterson 2007 online]In reality women held an important position as wives since they took care of the household, any servants, helped with their husband’s work, and managed the finances, however from the male’s point of view, wo men were nothing more than overly emotional and mindless creatures ruled by their sexuality Mary Wollstonecraft penned her anger at the unfair and unjust inequality that where imposed upon women by a vocal male majority in an attempt to redress this balance.A women's role in life in the nineteenth century was decidedly placed within a male context; both sexes were to be seen acting within different realms with the men occupying what was to be known as the public sphere whilst the women were to be found in the domestic sphere [Gordon Marsden 1955]. Perhaps this splitting of realms, within the working and lower middling classes at least, into their respective roles was by-product of increasing industrialisation and its resultant hazards such as long working hours and poor working conditions imposed upon the family unit.The majority of women did not have the option not to marry: it was simply a necessity for survival. Because society prevented women from making their own living, there was an inescapable dependence upon men’s income; Barred by law and custom from entering trades and professions by which they could support themselves, and restricted in the possession of property, woman had only one means of livelihood, that of marriage her [Gordon Marsden 1955].Therefore, no matter what the women desired, most were predestined to become wives due to their economic reliance on men. Secondly, to be even considered as a potential wife, women had to be not only virgins, but were expected to remain innocent and â€Å"free from any thought of love or sexuality† until after they had received a proposal The fallen woman was quite a theme for the Pre-Raphaelites. In this painting, The Awakening Conscience, we see a mistress rising from the seat of her lover, seemingly stricken with the realization of what her life has become.The Awakening Conscience, painted by William Holman Hunt, is filled with symbolism: a cat crouches under the table devouring a dead bird, the woman’s hands are adorned with rings on every finger except where a wedding ring would be, and on the floor we see unraveling wool. The model in this painting is Annie Miller, who Holman Hunt â€Å"rescued from obscurity†. He was engaged to her and launched a campaign to better her [Gordon Marsden 1955]. As a women, then ,the first thing of importance is to be content, to be inferior to men, inferior in mental power, in the same proportion that you are inferior in bodily strength.Ruskin's defence of the Awakening Conscience in his letter to the Times helps to subvert the idea of women being dependent upon men; he refers to the model repeatedly as the ‘poor' ‘lost' girl. He victimises her and renders her as virtually helpless as she ‘starts up with agony', her ‘eyes filled with tears of ancient days’. Ruskin attempts to address the composition's power and immediacy from which ‘there is not a single object in all the room– †¦ but it becomes tragically if rightly read’[Hollis,P 1979]. He concludes that Hunt’s work challenges its contemporaries and that ‘there will not be found one powerful as this to meet †¦ he moral evil of the age†¦ to waken the mercy the cruel thoughtlessness of youth, and to subdue the severalties of judgement into the sanctity of compassion[Rutherford online n. d]. Hunt’s the Awakening Conscience, in this context may be seen as a form of morality text. The work was a direct outgrowth of mid-Victorian society which believed that prostitution posed an inherent threat to the stability of the middle-classes as prostitution encompassed and symbolised the worries of a newly industrialised society which could lead to social instability and perhaps even to a complete social breakdown.It was believed that he slide into prostitution was the end of a more general moral breakdown in one's life which was believed to stem from the act of seduction, in 1 840. William Tait in Magdalism, defined a woman's seduction as an ‘act of corrupting tempting, or enticing females from a life of chastity, by money of false promises'. The 1850 Westminster Review wrote that ‘women's desires scarcely ever lead to their fall; for the desire scarcely exists in a definite form until they have fallen; it may therefore be seen that the ideal women becomes de-sexed in her search for moral virtue [Rutherford online n. ]. William Holman Hunt's The Awakening Conscience represents not only a contemporary life subject of a fallen Magdalene but can be loosely interpreted as an example of portraiture by Pointon's definition in which we can see that the woman became as symbolically objectified as her image. In contrast Augustus Leopold Egg’s painting, known as Past and Present Nos. 1–3, (1858), is a triptych in the genre of narrative painting. The subject is the ‘fallen woman’ and together the three paintings depict an entir e scenario from discovery and outcast to the moments before the woman’s final demise.One picture shows the children alone in the home; the other picture shows their mother living under the Adelphi Terrace arches in London. The paintings â€Å"illustrate the tensions in Victorian culture between morality and sexuality†. Egg's â€Å"moral narrative on social issues†[ Patterson 2007 online ] was successful in drawing public attention to the need to address gender roles and their consequences such as divorce. The sad woman in the third picture, most likely contemplating suicide, is a result of legislation that allows a man to divorce his wife without compensation for adultery [Patterson 2007 online].Prostitution, was legal during the Victorian era, seemed to embody the second of the two categories of women present in Victorian society: the first was the pure wife and mother, the angel in the house; the other was the depraved and sexually-crazed prostitute. â€Å"Pr ostitution was a product of middle-class society and only socialism, it was claimed ,could put an end to the evil†[Nead L 1988]. However because wives and mothers were not truly respected, my belief is that prostitution reflected what men really considered all women to be: whores for the gratification of their sexual desires.And indeed in Victorian England a large number of women were prostitutes: â€Å"In a society that forced women into a position of economic dependence upon men. In conclusion men’s and society’s consistent definition of women’s roles according to their separate spheres and the reproductive system can also be seen through what today we would consider the ‘weird’ sexual values of Victorians. The issue of adultery was also skewed to favour men. While a wife’s adultery was sufficient cause to end a marriage, a woman could divorce her husband only if his adultery had been compounded by another matrimonial offence, such a s cruelty or desertion.Referencing List: Branes Lucy. (2007). Narrative Painting? Egg's Triptych And The Art of Persuasion. Available: http://www. victorianweb. org/painting/egg/paintings/barnes2. html Last accessed 29 May 2012. Hollis P ( 1979). The women's movement. London: George Allen & Unwin. 6-15. John A (1986). Unequal Opportunities Women's Employment in England. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. 45-261. Lewis J (1986). Women's Experience of Home and Family. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. 123-249. Lynda Nead,1988,The Prostitution and Social Chaos,Blackwell Myths of sexuality Marsden,G (1995).Personalities and Perspectives in the Nineteenth Century Society. London: Longman. 3-11. Rutherford. A,A Dramatic Reading of Augustus Leopold Egg Untitled Triptych Available online http://www. tate. org. uk/research/tateresearch/tatepapers/07spring/rutherford. htm [accesses 22 March 2012] Sigsworth M,E (1988). In search of Victorian Values. Manchester: Manchester University Press. 89-100. Patterson,C. ( 2007). Men, Divorce And Custody. Available: http://menstuff. org/issues/byissue/divorcecustodygeneral. html Last accessed 29.

The Financial Crisis of 2008

This paper explores the factors, which caused the recent financial crisis of 2008. Furthermore this paper will explain how the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) monetary policies and the Federal Government’s fiscal policies are crucial in limiting and perhaps eliminating future catastrophes.The Financial Crisis of 2008Factors and PreventionThe financial crisis of 2008 is widely considered the worst financial crisis, since the Great Depression (Pendrey, 2009). The repercussions of the crisis were mind-boggling, and unfortunately for many, it was life altering. Families lost their houses, their jobs, and in many cases, they lost their entire life savings. Furthermore, neither businesses nor banks escaped the massacre. The financial crisis not only devastated the United States, it also had far reaching worldwide consequences. The global economy suffered, as a result of what was happening here.The devastation was so severe, that the economy has yet to fully recover. To make matters e ven more frustrating, Sewell Chan of the New York Times explained, â€Å"The 2008 financial crisis was an â€Å"avoidable† disaster caused by widespread failures in government regulation, corporate mismanagement and heedless risk-taking by Wall Street†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (2011). This paper will attempt to discuss the factors, which led to the crisis, and perhaps more importantly, attempt to provide courses of action, which would prevent similar incidents in the future.DiscussionIn the years that led up to the financial crisis, seemingly everyone who could fog a mirror could get a home loan. These loans were often much more than the borrower could ever possibly afford to pay back. The government commission, which investigated the crisis, believes one of the main factors causing the financial crisis was the Federal Reserve’s and other regulators  failure to recognize the poisonous combination of careless mortgage loans, in addition to the packaging and sale of loans to inve stors and risky bets on securities backed by the subprime loans (Chan, 2011).The previous statements are best summarized, when Leon Hadar, a research fellow in foreign policy studies, opines in his Cato Institute commentary, â€Å"The housing boom and bust that precipitated the crisis were facilitated by extremely loose monetary policy.† (2009).Faulty monetary policies are not alone in the blame, however. The Federal Government’s shoddy fiscal policy also played a role. The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, also known as the Financial Modernization Act of 1999, repealed the injunction on the collaboration between investment and commercial banking established by the New Deal-era Glass-Steagall Act’s of 1932 and 1933. According to Hadar, this policy also proved dreadful. He states the Act, â€Å"†¦caused the crisis by clearing the way for investment and commercial banks to merge, and thus giving investment banks the incentive to take greater risks, while reducing the amount of equity they are required to hold against any given dollar of assets.† (2009).Not surprisingly, the incompetency and, in some cases, illegal actions of corporate management, in addition to Wall Street’s propensity to risk, also contributed to the 2008 financial meltdown. The US government’s official report, on the financial crisis, concluded, â€Å"several financial industry figures may have broken the law in the run-up to the crisis.† (Rushe, 2011). Furthermore, risk taking is an every day occurrence with Wall Street. Charles Ferguson pulls no punches with respect to Wall Street’s share of the blame, in an online article.The article titled â€Å"Heist of the century: Wall Street’s roll in the financial crisis† orates, â€Å"It is no exaggeration to say that since the 1980s, much of the global financial sector has become criminalised, creating an industry culture that tolerates or even encourages systematic fraud. The behavio ur that caused the mortgage bubble and financial crisis of 2008 was a natural outcome and continuation of this pattern, rather than some kind of economic accident.† (2012). SolutionWith the previous factors given, one might wonder how to prevent another  financial crisis from occurring. Costas Markides provides a very reasonable thesis in my opinion. In a Bloomberg.com blog, which addresses actions needed to avoid the next predicament, Markides contemplates, â€Å"If you want to change how people behave, don’t tell them. Instead, change the underlying environment that produced their â€Å"bad† behavior in the first place.† (2012). In other words, it is human nature to demand punishment and thereby obtaining a sense of instant gratification. To prevent future financial calamities, however, it is wise to address the underlying causes and understand what went wrong.Although there can never be a hundred percent solution to managing the national economy to su ch an extent that there will never be another crisis, the needed adjustments seem to lay at the feet of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy and the Federal Government’s fiscal policy. The Fed addressed one major cause of the financial crisis by implementing much needed regulations regarding mortgage loans and requiring proof of borrowers ability to pay the loan back (Warner, 2013).The Government, on the other hand, initiated mass government spending in order to stimulate the economy. Both the Fed and the Federal Government need to tighten regulations, but perhaps more importantly, they need to act more quickly and decisively to limit, or even more optimistically, prevent the next financial crisis. Mark Thoma of CBS best summarized this point by stating, â€Å"This disaster could have been prevented by a strong regulatory response, but the belief that markets would self-regulate†¦ led to a regulatory hands-off approach†¦ The hands-off regulatory approach wa s a mistake.† (2009).SummaryIn summary, it is clear that the financial crisis of 2008 was caused by errant monetary and fiscal policies. Furthermore, there was a delayed reaction by both the Fed and the Federal Government, which was caused by a hands-off regulatory approach. In the future, the Fed and the Federal Government need to act more decisively and promptly to better steer the economy away from a downward trending economy. Both the monetary and fiscal policies are vital to the ongoing recovery and future growth of the country’s economy.