Nyarlathotep

The story Nyarlathotep basically provides the insight about the degree of destabilization with regards to the narrator’s existence. The narrative provides the clear understanding of how chaos can readily impose a certain situation which can destroy the very essence of the fixed arrangements of things especially in the physical and emotional aspect of a community. Nyarlathotep is a fictional character that represents chaotic events which crawls gently buy surely involves dismantling sets of pre-arranged structures of human existence. The story provides the readers how this â€Å"creature† sustains long term influence to everything it touches by inducing disorder. Basically, the writer intends to project Nyarlathotep as something which cannot be prevented and that encompasses a great extent of human sanity. In the story, it is personified as a being which induces complexity as well as mystery for it drastically changes everything from a complete orderly situation to turmoil. The writer narrated a story with respect to how Nyarlathotep has influenced his personal life by describing his observations about the changes in the society he was previously immersed in. In this aspect, it seems that he wants to relay to the readers that the same situation may also happen to them and that the story can become a very good reference on what to expect and how the drastic effects can be minimized using the experiences stated by the writer. For further analysis, the overall effect of hearing or reading a particular narrative can be differentiated based on how information is acquired by the person. The effect of hearing a story may provide a direct believable result since there is a third party in reference which relays the information. On the other hand, the effect of reading can provide a definite form of imaginative experience since the information is processed based on how the details are projected to the reader’s mind, therefore increasing its cognitive capability (Weatherston 1). In any case, the same degree effect in capturing the essence of story telling may be developed for both reading and hearing procedures. Works Cited Weatherston, Martin. â€Å"Heidegger's Interpretation of Kant: Categories, Imagination, and Temporality.† University of Notre Dame. 2004. 4 Feb 2008 .

Comparing poems Nothings changed Essay

The Poem ‘nothings changed’ is based on Tatamkhulu Afrika himself who spent many years in South Africa and his autobiographical poem which describes most of what him and others had experienced and his own feelings expressed during the policy of Apartheid, introduced by the government in his country. This forced many popular attractions such as beaches, buses and even towns to be changed to ‘white areas’ only. For some this meant leaving the country forever all just because of the colour of there skin. The poem itself is set out in six stanzas, each including eight fairly short but important lines. This kind of layout and structure in the poem creates a sense of control, showing how the poet is extremely clear about what he is saying and feeling in his head with no sudden actions leading to rage. Within the pattern of the poem the line lengths do also vary from a whole entire stanza to just two little words. For example: ‘District Six. No board says it is: but my feet know, and my hands, and the skin about my bones, and the soft labouring of my lungs,and the hot, white, inwards turning’. This shows how the structure of the strong poem changes in the stanza’s, gradually getting bigger sentences as the stanza speaks on, giving a feeling of confidence in the poet proving he knows what he is talking about with all the information gathering. The whole poem is written in the present tense, although always recalling past experience he had the poet is constantly reliving the experience as he writes every word. This makes this poem in particular stand out from ‘what were they like?’ due to the fact it is easy to identify what is going on. The poet also clearly states how he is feeling and what he is exactly doing as he writes, describing every little detail by putting us in his shoes. The poem overall describes how he returns to the wasteland that was once his home and relives the anger he felt when the area was first destroyed. With him seeing the restaurant Which consists of being expensive, stylish, exclusive with a guard at the gatepost it makes him think about the poverty around it especially the working mans cafi across from it were people live without eating from plates and on a plastic table top. This makes him reflect that despite the changing political situation, there are still huge inequalities between blacks and whites. Even though South Africa is supposed to have changed, he knows the new restaurant is really ‘whites only’. He feels that nothing has really changed overall. The deep anger he feels makes him want to destroy the restaurant completely – ‘to smash the glass with a stone, or a bomb’. Secondly the poem ‘what were they like’ written by Denise Levertov who wrote poems that opposed American fighting in Vietnam in the 1960’s. This particular poem is against the typical American ignorance of the Vietnam war. She published the poem to show her true feelings about what the American army themselves had done to the people and the way of life of Vietnam. The structure of the poem is like an interview, having the interviewer or questioner ask all the questions together and then the speaker answer each question after one another. Altogether there are six questions followed by six very surprising answers. Also at the end of the poem the answers are followed by a rhetorical question ‘who can say? ‘ This makes the reader think in there head about the answer and shows the unusual treatment Vietnam received by the American army. In the poem itself she compares two different periods, before and after the war had ended showing the interesting experiences people were put in and what she wants answered for. The tone in the first section of the poem includes a thought on curiosity and full of wonder and also could be considered as being questions which are asked quickly and impatiently as when reading them you want to get to the answers straight away. Also the tone of the questioner may seem to be angry and a state of foolishness and insensitivity, yet still having a sense of sadness because of the loss of such an innocent country and the people who lived there during this hectic time. The questioner themselves represent the uninformed Americans and the response being Denise Levertov giving the impression that the questioner should have known more about Vietnam. The responses to the questions seem rather bitter and brutal to the suffering people as when read seem honest and quickly spoken in your head which is what the poet is trying to get at to show the emotion of which happened during the war itself. Overall both poems include some similar qualities, both being completely true and poets experiencing the lives lived out there. Yet ‘nothings changed’ is describing the life long change of the country since introducing the law of Apartheid in the 1960’s and how the country is still living with it, and overcoming the stress and changes the country had to make to change the lives of black and white people which is something of anger and hatred. This is shown by a personal experience form living in the country and visiting local areas and recording the atmosphere of the place. This anger can also be shown in ‘what were they like’ although this particular poet may have had experience from Vietnam she was not there to see it and includes in her poem questions referring to the fact she wants answers to what has happened in the past war against America. This shows the poems are different one including life experience on unfair laws made and the other just wanted answers on what she believes what happened in the Vietnam war is completely wrong.

Financing Decisions and Market Efficiency Essay

Financing Decisions and Market Efficiency - Essay Example It is therefore important that a company must be innovative and highly efficient in managing its long term and short term financial perspectives in a manner that promotes confidence in its investors and customers. The fast changing technological innovations have facilitated a wide scope of linking elements of finance and market derivatives that have considerable influence on each other. Very often, the market driven compulsions, affect the financial outcome of the corporate bodies, making them financially vulnerable to market forces. Hence, the companies that are listed on the stock exchanges and have definite ratings by the various well respected investors’ services must ensure that they have good feedback and accordingly formulate strategy to maintain good market position. Moody’s investors’ service is one of the world’s most trusted and utilized services that provides the investors with the protection of integrity of credit vis-Ã  -vis the companies that it rates according to their financial and performance based fundamental strengths. It core business activities include credit rating, research and analysis providing a transparent system of market evaluation and upgrading the level of assessment of stocks with information based values. The most important aspect of Moody’s credit ratings is that it help the investors to analyse the credit risks for the securities and stocks of the company. Hence once a company gets a credit rating from the Moody, its credibility is established in the market. The higher the credit listing, the better the chances are for the company to maintain a low interest cost and high stake in credit-debt ratio. Moody’s approach to credit ratings, are based on the perspectives over a long period of time, within which the company would be not only be able to survive and succeed but also be able to meet its credit obligations. Therefore, it

Governing Global Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Governing Global Business - Essay Example Liberalism is the most accepted theory in this regard and the main principles of globalisation are based on this theory. Research Question Since the theory of liberalism is most close to the topic of globalisation, the theory has got a wide acceptance among the research scholars who have written about the state and the effects of Globalisation. This paper makes an attempt to analyse how far the principles of Liberalism are applicable to the globalisation and how it has been actually applied in practice. Literature Review Globalisation is a phenomenon that the world experienced through the opening up of the networks of communication and trade relations across countries in different parts of the world. As a result of the globalisation the world would be a single village of people where the flow of ideas would be free and the cultural exchange between people would be more liberal (Smith, 1980, p. 119). There are several facets of the process of globalisation. First of all it means the l iberalisation of the foreign policies of the state. Along with this it includes the privatisation of the government enterprises and investments in projects across the barriers of nationality (Waters, 1995, p. 11). The phenomenon would also include the easy mobility of the employable people and exchange of business ideas. But the idea chiefly includes mainly communication across cross country borders. The advent of Globalisation was seen mostly towards the fag end of the twentieth century (Appadurai, 2000, p. 82). With the inception of the World Wide Web, the people could easily establish the relations that lie at the diametrically opposite part of the globe. The time taken to carry out this communication process was also less which in turn facilitated trade across countries. The free flowing ideas and exchange of information had also brought the nations with the common interests on a same platform. On the other hand, a state in the sense of politics are a group of people living in a definite area of land and are controlled and guided by the rules laid down by a powerful body known as the government (Featherstone, 1990, p. 73). Often the term government is used interchangeably with the state. There are several states or nations in the world that have their specific set of rules and regulations. The process of globalisation would encourage the interaction of all these states from an economic, social, cultural and religious perspective on a common field. The terms that are commonly used along with the term globalization include Liberalism, Marxism and Realism. The political philosophy of Liberalism believes that a state should allow liberty and equality to all the citizens of the state. The people of the state should provide each and every citizen to take part in the election in the most open manner. The country should take part in free trade and the people should be allowed to have ownership of property (Rosefielde, 2008, p. 60). This is completely opposed to th e theory of Marxism that does not believe in the possession of private property but believe that the surplus value that comes out of any production process should be sent to the government who will have the responsibility of allocating the resources according to the needs of the people. The ownership of the means of production should lie in the hands of

Business Innovation - Six Sigma program and Motorola Term Paper

Business Innovation - Six Sigma program and Motorola - Term Paper Example This process saves a great deal of time that is used to improve on design and general quality aspects of products. Introduction Motorola’s history is quite helpful for many businesses especially in the manufacturing sector. Its major contribution to this sector is the Six Sigma initiative in production where focus was shifted from measuring quality in percentages to parts per million. This idea stemmed from the realisation that the advancement in technology cannot stick with the conservative forms of measurement. Six Sigma was introduced to achieve the set quality goals so as to minimise chances of wastage in terms of resources and time. The company since the adoption of this strategy has saved its shareholders billions of dollars in terms of resources and time. The initiative has also enabled it to deliver high quality products to its consumers all over the world. Cell phone sales have shot up tremendously in the last decade and Motorola was well positioned in the 1990s to ca ter for the rising demand. For the initiative to work the company has to ensure that it changes its leadership and invest in rewarding innovation coupled with creating the right metrics. This paper will aim at discussing the circumstances that led to the innovation of Six Sigma in Motorola, how Six Sigma project was implemented at Motorola and the results achieved by the company after implementation. Company overview Motorola is one of the leading companies in the electronic communications business. It deals in designing and manufacturing cellular and cordless phones, broadband products and modems among other products. It ranks as the second largest producer of mobile phones behind Nokia. It has for a long time controlled about 17% of the entire world market in regards to mobile phones but leading in two-way radios (Pande, Neuman & Cavanagh, 2000). It has concentrated a great deal in wireless communication and internet related technology. The company further produces a wide range of products for use in the automotive industry together with computer and navigation. It is also important to appreciate that the company enjoys a bigger market outside the USA at almost 60%. Motorola’s glory can be attributed heavily on its quality products which in 1988 saw it receive Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. This award recognises businesses that act as role models for others in various areas of management and general operations. It is the Six Sigma initiative at Motorola that attracted this admiration. Motorola acted as the first company to incorporate this Six Sigma in its operations back in January 1987 and due to its almost-immediate success, many other companies followed suit. Before this initiative Motorola was experiencing one of the most turbulent times since it was Galvin Manufacturing Corporation in 1928 (Coronado & Jiju 2002). However, since February 2011 Motorola became two separate companies; Motorola Mobile and Motorola Mobility. Motorola and Six Sigma Before Motorola came up with the Six Sigma initiative, it was on its downward trend and it required an intensively innovative approach to the market. The competitive market arena had become too competitive for the company to rely on its traditional management practices and operational methods. The changes towards a fully-fledged Six Sigma project

Why the Bonfire of the Vanities Flopped Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Why the Bonfire of the Vanities Flopped - Essay Example The researcher states that with all of the positive factors that the film had going for it, like an excellent cast in securing Bruce Willis and Tom Hanks, and a screenplay based on a bestselling novel, as well as Christmas day opening, it is undeniable that the film had garnered the necessary anticipation. The only real explanation for the film’s outcome is the unsatisfactory direction of Brian De Palma, and it’s the most believable considering his track record in Hollywood. The only way to truly narrow down all of the possibilities of why this film was such a flop at the Box office is to rationally view all of the contributing factors and then make a sound judgment as to which one is most likely the cause of the film’s failure. In most cases, because the entertainment industry is so fickle, it could be argued that any number of possibilities could have contributed to the cause and that it couldn’t have just been one. In sum, the researcher concluds that D e Palma’s flop at the box office with The Bonfire of the Vanities is entirely due to his own unsatisfactory directing. The director has never been nominated for an Academy Award, or for a Golden Globe, despite the fact that he has had unprecedented studio support, in that they allow for all of his failures. In assessing what made The Bonfire of the Vanities flop at the box office, it must be recognized that all of the necessary tools were available, the actors, storyline, studio support, even anticipation, but Brian De Palma just didn’t deliver.

Work environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Work environment - Essay Example This principle can also be applied to the use of new technology. The introduction of new technology requires better coordination in organizations to make use of the new technology. As managers have become aware of the benefits of shifting more responsibility to human resource departments within an organization, this has further led to decentralization and a greater emphasis on teamwork to get the job done. 1. Compare and contrast authority, responsibility, accountability, and delegation a. Authority belongs in the hands of a manager, whose job it is to come up with strategies, delegate responsibility, and use resources in an effective and efficient manner to achieve the objectives of the organization. Authority can be viewed from three view points: (1) Authority comes from structures within an organization, and not directly from people. (2) Authority must be respected by subordinates. This is shown by the acceptance theory of authority, which reasons that authority is only acquired b y a leader if the subordinates follow commands given to them. (3) Authority is appropriate to the particular position involved. Employees higher up the food chain have greater authority than their subordinates. b. b. Responsibility is authority given to carry out an order based on an employee’s position in the organizational hierarchy. c. Accountability is where authority and responsibility meet. d. Delegation is the way management chooses to assign responsibility to those lower than them in the organizational hierarchy. Most organizations encourage their managers to delegate authority to regular employees where possible so that the needs of customers are put first. 2. The divisional structure is often considered almost the opposite of a functional structure. Do you agree? Briefly explain the major differences in these two approaches to departmentalization. The functional structure revolves around common skills, expertise, work activities, and resources. Human resources are pooled together in large functional departments in order to achieve economies of scale and in‑depth skill specialization and development. The efficient use of resources is what defines the functional structure. The divisional structure is entirely different from the functional structure. The divisional structure focuses on product and division goals instead of functional skills and expertise. Despite this, divisional structures use functional departments within each division. Efficiency and economies of scale take a back seat to coordination among all departments and effectiveness in addressing the needs of customers. The key difference between these two structures is that the functional structure offers better efficiency internally but poor responsiveness, while the divisional structure is known for excellent responsiveness and poorer efficiency internally. 3. Define centralization and decentralization. Identify the three factors that typically influence centralization versus decentralization. What advantages does decentralization have over centralization? 1. Centralization and decentralization refer to the different levels of the hierarchy where key decisions are made and responsibility delegated. 2. Centralization means most of the major decisions come from top management (otherwise known as top-down approach).

Employment Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 10

Employment Law - Essay Example He complains of unfair elimination of his unused vacation. There was no proper written notice of termination of Tomas employment. The company provided a two-week termination payment in lieu of notice. Tomas promotion to a data entry manager made him work for about 55 hours in a week. This made him eligible for overtime because he worked for more than 44 hours in a week. This is because he was promoted a month after his overtime work that is within three months as stated in the Employment Standards Act of 2000. In Zsoldos v. MMMC Inc. Architects, 2005 CanLII, it the plaintiff signed an agreement with the defendant that was legally binding to both parties. Tomas needs compensation for the time off not taken, in addition to the hours he worked during public holidays. He should get time off for the holidays he worked in addition to the three weeks off as stated in the Employment Standards Act. It was not appropriate to eliminate the unused vacation because it could only be legally binding if there was a proper agreement signed in writing and not an oral agreement. This should be effective within seven days of employment termination. The withdrawal of the health benefits was inappropriate because Tomas was still an employee before the major clients seized to do business with Crowne Company. The company should provide the health benefits for the period stated in the contract agreement with the employee. In case of termination of the health benefits, there must be a written notice to the employee. Tomas termination of employment was inappropriate, as his employment with Crown Company lasted for more than three months. In addition, the employer did not give him a proper written notice informing him of the termination of his employment or a pay for the termination. The termination pay in lieu of notice was inappropriate. This is because in case of employment termination the pay in lieu of notice is effective within seven

Retail grocery industry in Australia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Retail grocery industry in Australia - Essay Example There are a few publicly listed supermarket based chains, global operators and wholesaler managed chains that operate in the industry and offer grocery foods in varied retail formats. These assorted retailers contend with more than 30,000 specialty food offering businesses including shopfronts and multiple franchise based operators (Australian Government Department of Agriculture, 2013). The prime objective of this study is to analyse the retail grocery industry in Australia in keeping with micro and macro-economic factors. Market Structure–Production Sector Nature of Production Nature of production in any industry bears a major impact on the overall cost of the produced offerings owing to the fact that it entails crucial constituents such as value addition components, stock control and production operations. In terms of stages of production, it is determined that a number of goods pass through diverse stages of production. Mainly, there are three production stages categorised under primary, secondary and tertiary. Primary: This stage entails the extraction of different raw materials from the soil. In relation to grocery retail industry, the primary offerings include food as well as non-food items that are prepared from the scratch with the aid of procuring different raw materials (Bized, 2012). Secondary: This stage entails converting raw materials into other related offerings. With regard to grocery retail industry in Australia, the organisations focus on providing high quality processed products through the use of required materials (Bized, 2012). Tertiary: This particular stage involves services provided to the business and consumers. This phase is mainly identified as a part of service industry. The Australian grocery retail industry emphasizes efficient handling of variable costs arising from providing quality services by generating greater footfall in the stores by enhanced consumer footfall. It also focuses on ensuring economies of scale along wi th rendering in-store services (Bized, 2012; Australian Government Department of Agriculture, 2013). Factors Differentiating the Market Australian grocery retail market can be differentiated through three major factors that include price differentiation, product differentiation and market segmentation. The marketers operating in the grocery retail market in Australia aim to differentiate their offering by targeting high quality assorted products for their identified target markets. Price Differentiation: Price discrimination or differentiation is referred as the quality of an exporter to fix the price in terms of market scenario. This behaviour notifies the exporter to exchange the rate by changing the price of its products. In certain terms, it can be said that price discrimination is the theory of changing prices for different consumers. In Australian grocery retail market perspective, price discrimination plays a vital role. Price differentiation is essentially divided into three parts that include first-degree price discrimination, second-degree price discrimination and third-degree price discrimination. In Australian grocery retail market, the price discrimination is very much important for the strategies adopted by the suppliers

One Preaching Journal Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

One Preaching Journal - Lab Report Example There is also a fellowship time offered after the service with coffee and cookies available for all. The community of which the congregation is a part is a small city of 50,000 people. The city is surrounded by a rural agricultural area. A large food processing company has a manufacturing plant in this city and is its major employer. There is also a small hospital to serve basic health care needs. The community also has its own newspaper and a local radio station. There is a public library and one post office located in the center of town. There are also small bus and train stations servicing the city. The public school system has four elementary schools, two junior high and two high schools. There is one Catholic school with grades kindergarten through 8; and there is also a Christian school with grades kindergarten through 8 which several Christian congregations in the community help to support. A large city of 300,000 is a little over an hour’s drive from this community. The church building of this congregation is located in the middle of an older residential neighborhood just six city blocks from the center of town. The downtown of this community is suffering an economic decline as large and popular discount stores and shopping centers have built close to a major highway that runs just outside of town, drawing business to that area and forcing the closure of several downtown businesses. The community is suffering a significant amount of unemployment at this time as the result of the current economic crisis. This congregation is predominately white working middle class people. About half of those in the congregation who work, work in agriculturally related occupations either in the food processing plant, on the farms directly, or in businesses related to the agricultural industry. About 10% are unemployed due to layoffs and cutbacks. About 30% work in stores, banks

District Size And The Distribution Of Seats Essay Example for Free

District Size And The Distribution Of Seats Essay The size of the district or the district magnitude refers to the number of candidates to be elected from that district. Depending on this number of seats, they can either be referred to as single-member or multimember districts. A single member district has a single seat while the multimember districts have several seats with the minimum number being two; a two-member district. Electoral process formulas; plurality and majority formulas can be applied to both this type of districts while the proportional representation (PR) and the single non-transferable vote (SNTV) are applied to only multimember districts ranging from two-member districts to the whole nation where all the members of parliament are elected from (Lijphart, pg. 150). The district size has a strong effect on proportionality and the number of parties in two respects (Lijphart, pg. 50). Studies carried put by Horwill (1925) and, Taagepera and Shugarts (1989) have strongly supported this. First of all, it affects both plurality and PR systems but in a contradicting way. While increasing the size of the district will increase disproportionality by favoring the larger parties with the application of plurality and majority systems, it is vice versa with the PR systems as it leads to greater proportionally by favoring the smaller parties. A good example to illustrate this with regard to plurality is a contest between party A and B in an area where A enjoys a greater popularity than B. A is likely to take all the seats if the area is a three-member district which is unlikely to be the case if the area is divided into three single-member districts; B may be able to capture one. In most plurality cases, multimember districts are smaller than single-member districts with rare cases being seen in countries like Mauritius (Lijphart, pg. 151). It has twenty three-member districts and one two-member districts producing a total of sixty-two legislators. It should be noted that multimember districts have been on the decline due the fact that it increases disproportionality. However, it should be noted that in Mauritius that the three-member districts have improved another kind of proportionality by encouraging parties and party alliances to nominate ethnically and religiously balanced states (Lijphart, pg. 152) which has resulted in a better representation of the minority groups. Another point to note is that the size of the district varies greatly in the PR systems unlike in plurality and majority systems (Lijphart, pg. 152) making it impact greater on the proportionality being achieved. A party representing a 10 percent minority is likely to be successful in a ten-member district which may not be the case in a five-member district. A nationwide district therefore is optimal for a proportional translation of votes into seats (Lijphart, pg. 152) with Israel and Netherlands being the two examples with such PR systems. Two levels of districts are usually used by many of the list PR countries so as to enjoy the advantages of a closer voter-representative contact in small districts and the higher proportionality of large nationwide districts (Lijphart, pg. 152). Larger districts improve proportionality in the smaller districts as in the case of mixed member proportional (MMP) systems but they are less pronounced in the smaller multimember list PR districts than in the MMP single-member districts. Denmark, Norway and Sweden are examples of countries applying the two-tiered list PR systems with a nationwide district.

Health Risk Of Cell Phones

Health Risk Of Cell Phones The cellular phone is a pervasive technology that has evolved from a luxury item justified only by the rich businessman to a necessity to some and an addiction to others. According to Portio Research Limited approximately 4.344 billion cell phones are in use globally. Since the latter part of 2008 one fifth of households in the United States have chosen this technology as their sole method of voice communication, replacing traditional landline telephones. Source: Fram, (2009). A 2009 Marist Poll found that 87% of U.S. residents say they own a cell phone. So what exactly is a cellular telephone? History tells us that Alexander Graham Bell received the first U.S. patent for a communication device called the telephone in 1875. This device allowed a human voice to be transmitted across a cooper wire. We grew up with the telephone and in my generation every house had at least one telephone. The first patent for cordless phone technology was given in 1959 but the technology did not become commercially viable until the breakup of the Ma Bell monopoly in the early 1980s, it was then that several companies started manufacturing wireless phone systems. These cordless phone systems were still connected to landlines but in actuality were two way radios using RF or Radio Frequency technology. Radio waves are part of the electromagnetic spectrum of radiation. Todays cell phones use EHF (Extremely High Frequency) or microwaves which are the same technology our microwave ovens are based on. Because the telephone started out as a safe technology we grew up using, people do not even think about the possible negative health consequences of using their cell phone. Cell phone usage has negative effects to your health. However when it comes to the health risks associated with using a cell phone, there is conflicting research. Mobile phone technology is new and its effects are unknown. We have only been using wireless communication technology for the last thirty years. There are not large enough studies conducted over long enough periods of time to come to the conclusion that this technology is safe. Cigarette smoking and even X-Rays where once thought to be safe, until enough information came to light to prove the dangers of using them. Most of the major studies have been done in countries that have a financial stake in the manufacturing of cell phones. Interphone is one of the largest studies ever done. It took place over the course of ten years and included the research of 13 different countries, comprising subjects from the age of 30-59. Even with large studies such as Interphone (which included 14,078 cases), there are on going debates about what the data actually means, thus with no conclusive results the report remains unpublished. But one thing they all agree on is that more research is needed. (Reardon, 2009, para. 6). Another issue involved is that the te chnology being used is rapidly evolving; the current incarnation of the cell phone is less than ten years old. The Stewart Report from the International Experts Group on Mobile Phones claims (Stewart, 2000, 40) New Telecommunications technologies have been introduced without full provision of information about their nature and without prior discussion within the scientific community about the consequences for health. The research is static while the technology is dynamic. The use of Cell phones increases the risk of cancer. Using a cell phone held up against your ear can increase your risk of getting cancer or brain tumors due to the proximity of the radiations source to the head and brain. There are many studies available which indicate a link between various types of cancer and cell phone usage. A study done in Sweden by Dr. Lennart Hardwell showed that the risk of acoustic neuroma and glioma are increased from 20% (low grade giloma) to 400% (high grade giloma) by long term mobile phone use (>10 years), highest risk category being ipsilateral exposure. Source: (Harwell, Carlberg, SÃ ¶derqvist, Mild Morgan, 2007). Dr. Ronald B. Herberman, MD and Director of the University of Pittsburg Cancer Institute and UPMC Cancer Center testified before the Domestic Policy Subcommittee Oversight and Government Reform Committee My attention was directed to a large body of evidence, including expert analyses showing absorption of RF into the brain and the comprehensive Bioinitiative Report, review of experimental a nd public health studies pointing to potential adverse biologic effects of RF signals, including brain tumors, associated with long-term and frequent use of cell phones held to the ear. Source: Herberman, R. (2008). Dr Herberman felt strongly enough about the connection between increased cancer risk and using a cell phone that he issued a warning to his staff which included 10 detailed steps to reduce exposure to the RF electromagnetic radiation. Cell phones do not cause cancer. Sources such as the US Food and Drug Administration and the American Cancer Society have found cell phone usage has not been directly linked to an increased risk of brain, and other cancers. The United States Food and Drug Administration is the government agency responsible for evaluating and regulating the safety of products that emit radiation. These products cover medical to entertainment electronics. The FDA website under the topic of Radiation emitting products, health issues, a simple question is asked and answered, Do cell phones pose a health hazard? Source: www.fda.gov (2010). The answer clearly states the scientific evidence has not proven that cell phones cause cancer or any other health issues. The American Cancer Society has evaluated close to 30 studies which were focused on the relationship between tumors and cell phone usage. The results of these studies have been similar. Most studies do not show a dose-response relationship a tendency for the risk of brain tumors t o increase with increasing cell phone use, which would be expected if cell phone use caused brain tumors. Source: www.cancer.org (2010). Certainly these organizations are credible and have no financial interest in the outcome of this controversial health topic. Mobile phones emit low-level RF. Because the RF levels emitting are so low, there is no direct link between mobile phones and health issues. According to the FDA cell phone levels of RF are low putting them into the range of microwaves. Microwaves produce non-ionizing radiation, not to be confused with ionizing radiation such as gamma or x-rays which does have a damaging effect on biological tissue. The Federal Communications Commission defines a biological effect as a measurable change in a biological system. The presence of a biological change does not translate into something that is biologically harmful. When the biological effect causes detectable impairment of the health of the individual or of his or her offspring it is categorized as harmful to ones safety. Source: U.S. Federal Communications Commission, Office of Engineering and Technology, (1999). These RF levels are only at their peak when actually transmitting and receiving, which limits the amount of exposure. The FDA stated that no prove existed that cellular phones are dangerous, however if people still have apprehension there many preventive methods that can be implanted to further decrease exposure to the already low level of RF energy. Cartoon Interpretation In this cartoon the author is suggesting that user is aware that using his cell phone is dangerous, by the comical way he attempts to protect himself with the metal helmet. In addition he appears to be discussing these concerns with his physician, who states If youre worried about the dangers of mobile phones why dont you use it less. As with any other type of radiation, the time of the exposure is one of the factors that determine the patient dose. By suggesting that the patient use his phone less the doctor is re-enforcing this principal. With the advent on new technologies such as mobile internet, text messaging and email people are using their cell phones for extended periods of time and carry them constantly. By turning the phone off when not in use the patient could further decrease his exposure. Another concept radiation protection uses is increasing the distance between them and the source of radiation. This patient could eliminate the need for his humorous helmet by using so me ear buds with a microphone. The ear buds would allow him to use his cell phone without having the phone pressed against the temporal bone, which is in close proximity to the brain. Most cell phones today included these ear buds in the box, I know my Blackberry did. The other option is to use the speakerphone which is my personal favorite, especially in the car. I would also recommend he not carry the phone on his person, he could simply turn the phone off or put it in Airplane mode when not using it. Conclusion Radiation protection is founded on the premise that there is no safe amount of ionizing radiation. We should apply this approach when thinking about how and when we use our cellular phones even though they emit non-ionizing radiation. All the negative health implications of long-term cell phone usage are still unknown. Brain tumors take at least 10 to 20 years to manifest themselves. Source: Khurana, G. (2008). Taking a lesson taught to us from history with the health issues associated with x-rays and cigarettes, we need to take a more conservative approach when using a cell phone. Cell phones are now rated for how much specific absorbed rate per kilogram (SAR) they emit. There are many sources on the internet that compare the specific absorbed rate of phones from various manufacturers. Choose a cell phone model which emits a low amount of radiation to begin with. As consumers we should demand that objective studies be done over a long period of time using a number of subjects signif icantly relative to the amount of people using this technology. These studies must be conducted by experts in the medical community familiar with studying the mechanism of the causes of cancer. We should pressure our lawmakers to put in place more stringent requirements when it comes to minimizing the specific absorbed rate and improve the design to minimize. While not within the scope of this paper, I would be negligent not to mention the importance of controlling the cell phone usage of our children; their bodies are far more susceptible to the effects of RF radiation. Source: Khurana, G. (2008). The biggest challenge is to make people understand that no one is asking them to stop using their cell phone. Cell phones are an invaluable communication technology. For your own well being and that of your family please be aware of the dangers and how to limit the effects of them.

Case Study on Social Identity Theory

Case Study on Social Identity Theory Zuneirah Omar Social Identity Theory is a social psychological study which includes self-conception in group memberships (Hogg, 1990). This comes from the concept of social identity which is the meaning that one derives from their social group as well as the fact that they are a part of that social group (Trepte, 2006). Henceforth, this essay on Social Identity theory focuses on the lives of two students at the University of Cape Town (UCT), namely Sisanda and Andrew. Their identities during their undergraduate years of study are described and compared throughout the essay, incorporating the social identity theory, by means of a description of the theory using three concepts to describe the events that point out their group memberships. Included in these concepts is the key assumption of the theory. In order to emphasise the use of this key assumption, the identity strategies of the theory are described as well as related to the lives of the two students. Finally, together with the identity strate gies are the criticisms of the strategies as well as the theory as a whole. Sisanda is a female from Kwazulu-Natal. She lived in a rural village with her grandmother, following this she moved to an informal settlement nearby to live with her parents. Sisanda did very well at high school and had many resources at her disposal to help her with her school work. Throughout her studies she has aimed to maintain her Zulu identity as opposed to adopting a western identity. Sisanda came to UCT in order to study and thereafter have the opportunity to return home and give back to her community, however, since she felt unwelcome by her community after leaving to study, she decided to stay in Cape Town and help improve communities here (Bangeni, 2005). Andrew grew up in East London and then moved to a â€Å"coloured† township in Cape Town. Andrew had a lot of motivation to do well in High school in order to change his life for the better. Andrew was a very good student, despite the lack of resources that his school offered. He wanted to finish his studies and thereafter give back to his community, however during an early stage in his studies, when he was away from home and at Residence at UCT he experienced a lot of rejection from his community. Finally, Andrew has a strong ambition to maintain his home identity (Bangeni, 2005). The events which occurred during Sisanda and Andrews time at university that have influenced or had an influence on their identities will be incorporated and elaborated further in this essay, by using the Social identity theory which will be described using three concepts. These include the individual positions, three social principles and a central assumption (De La Rey, 2003). The individual component discussed here is self-concept. This is when an individual comprises of both, a personal and a social identity (De La Rey, 2003). In this essay we will focus mostly on Sisanda and Andrews’s social identities in order to clearly identify their group memberships, however their individual identities will be touched on briefly. The three social principles are status hierarchy, legitimacy or illegitimacy of the status hierarchy and permeability of group boundaries and status security (De La Rey, 2003). They both came from backgrounds of a lower status in comparison to the individuals backgrounds they compare themselves to at UCT. We see this when they mention that the students at UCT have a lot of wealth and they spend a lot. They both chose to maintain their individual status identities by not giving in to spend money as easily as their colleagues do. In Andrews’s case this is evident from the beginning when he chose not to be a part of the peer group that wasn’t a part of his personal class and status identity, he chose not to be a part of the coloured group as he says they are middle class, English individuals and they tend to look down at less privileged individuals such as himself (Bangeni, 2005). Thus demonstrating how the status hierarchy influenced his identity. Correspondingly, both Sisanda and Andrew have strong associations with their identities in relation to the languages they spoke previously, i.e. before they left home and came to UCT. The importance of speaking in their own languages, i.e. Zulu in Sisanda’s case and Afrikaans in Andrews’s case, is emphasized. Although Sisanda maintains this throughout her studies, she only speaks English when she has to in order to avoid communication problems, and takes notes in Zulu, despite her proficiency in English. Andrew on the other hand feels that English is now a major part of his identity, in addition he is learning Xhosa and Zulu (Bangeni, 2005). Legitimacy or illegitimacy of the status hierarchy refers to whether or not the hierarchy system is deemed as fair, reasonable and just or not (Bangeni, 2005). According to Sisanda, she feels that the status hierarchy present at UCT is unjust as it puts a lot of undue pressure on herself as well as other students at the university (Bangeni, 2005). Finally, permeability of group boundaries and status security refers to the extent to which individuals are able to change their identities by moving across the social boundaries (De La Rey, 2003). In both the cases, Sisanda and Andrews, there was a lack of permeability of their group boundaries. This is seen when they both feel unwelcomed by their communities as a result of the change that they had made by moving from the community to the university. The key assumption in social identity theory is called the positive social identity. This states that individuals will always strive to achieve the best and most positive identity and self-concept for themselves. In order to determine what is considered to be the best self-concept an individual will make social comparisons to themselves and other groups. Both Sisanda and Andrew were motivated to do well at school and achieve good marks in order to improve their lives and thus create a positive self-concept of themselves. Furthermore, this key assumption results in the individual making use of various identity strategies in order to achieve a positive self-concept with a high status. In order achieve this positive evaluation of themselves, perceived cognitive alternatives to the group situation that they are currently a part of are required. In other words if the members of a group are not aware of the cognitive alternatives that exist then they will be unable to change their situation and achieve the positive identity they are searching for. This can occur both, on a group level or an individual level, when a cognitive alternative is not achieved. (Taylor, 1987). On an individual level, the strategies include social mobility and intragroup comparison. Social mobility is a social system that is flexible and thus permits free movement of the individual (Taylor, 1987). Thus this is when an individual leaves a group and joins another group which provides the individual with a more positive identity. Sisanda experiences social mobility when she comes to the conclusion that her community has rejected her and as a result she will remain in Cape Town and use her degree to empower communities in this town instead of going back home to her original social group, in addition she tries to recreate her home identity at the university where she is accepted and thus this will improve her self-concept and sense of belonging. Andrew on the other hand, was also rejected by his community but he did not want to move to another group. He always wanted to maintain his home identity and this made his transition even more difficult, as a result he still remained a p art of his group by participating n NGO Programmes in the community (Bangeni, 2005). However during Andrews’s studies he made use of the second strategy, which is intragroup comparison. This is when the individual compares himself or herself with other members of his or her own group (Taylor, 1987). This is seen with Andrew when he made comparisons to the other â€Å"coloured† individuals at the university who were of a higher class then Andrew and according to Andrew they looked down upon lower class individuals. This resulted in him avoiding this group, even though it formed part of the coloured group identity that he had belonged to (Bangeni, 2005). This however form part of the lesser postulation of the theory, which states that the intragroup comparison is less likely to result in an unfavourable or negative evaluation of the individual (Taylor, 1987). Furthermore, when Andrew joined a new peer group which was of a lower social status, we cannot assume that this is social mobility as the theory states that mobility requires movement from a low-status group to a higher status group (De La Rey, 2003). Thus a criticism of this theory is that even though Andrew experienced the exit from one group and entry into another group it was not social mobility, even though ultimately he had a positive identity, to summarise this criticism one could say that this theory only focuses on improving the group’s identity and not the individuals. This is captured by stating that the social identity theory does not does not include the more realistic idea of an individual mobility strategy (Taylor, 1987). Comparatively, the cognitive alternatives include absorption, direct challenge, creativity and redefinition of characteristics. Absorption, which according to some theorists is referred to as assimilation, refers to the idea of trying to become a part of the dominant group (Taylor, 1987). This can be achieved by trying to change you appearance, ways of living and ones behaviour in order to look or act like the members of the dominant group. In the case of Sisanda and Andrew they both share a similar change in which they tried to achieve this assimilation alternative. This is with regards to their language, they both tried very hard to maintain their language identity and started of doing this very well. However in order to be a part of the dominant group and be able to communicate and prosper at the university they needed to adopt new language strategies. Sisanda says she became tolerant towards other African languages and wants to learn Sotho and Afrikaans as these are the languages that are most prevalent amongst the dominant groups in Cape Town. Despite this she still tries to maintain her Zulu identity, she takes notes in class in Zulu, and this shows clearly how she only adopts the new languages in certain settings in order to be a part of the dominant group. Andrew on the other hand initially found it very difficult to communicate I English as he was very good in Afrikaans only, however as a result of the group that Andrew spent his time with he began to change his language. He started learning to speak Xhosa a form of slang dominant to the area and the group known as â€Å"Backstage language.† Andrew completely changed with regards to language, as he began thinking in English and no longer Afrikaans, thus he adopted a new language in order to be a part of the dominant group (Bangeni, 2005). Direct challenge refers to the opposition of the dominant group by challenging them (Taylor, 1987). Sisanda showed signs of this strategy when she defended her Zulu culture amongst other groups as a result of ethnic stereotypes. Sisanda realized that this strategy did not work well in the case as she was going to lose her status amongst the members of the dominant group and as a result she maintained her Zulu identity on her own, and developed an identity of learning the other languages and ways of the culture, by means of social mobility as described previously (Bangeni, 2005). Andrew did not adopt this strategy in his time at university. Creativity is when one develops new ways in which they compare their group to others (Taylor, 1987). Andrew used this strategy by spending a lot of his time with individuals with both linguistic and economic disadvantage, and thus comparing himself and his group to them and as a result it created a more positive self and group concept for Andrew, instead of making a comparison to a more dominant group of greater advantage which would not help improve his self and group concept (Bangeni, 2005). Sisanda, on the other hand did not adopt this strategy. Finally, a strategy that was not adopted by both Sisanda and Andrew during their time at the university is the redefinition of characteristics. This is when the group redefines characteristics of the group that were previously evaluated as negative characteristics, in order to evaluate them in a more positive light now (Taylor, 1987). As seen here not all strategies were used by both the students that were discussed. The reason for this is because there is a sum of strategies, but there is no concrete solution with regards to which strategy one may prefer or prioritise over another strategy. The adoption of the strategies also depends on the level of motivation by the individual and the group, as well as their motivation to adopt one strategy over another (Taylor, 1987). A further critique of this theory is with regards to the non-cognitive alternatives that were mentioned. If one cannot achieve social mobility, they will achieve intragroup comparisons. However the theory does not look at social mobility from a psychological perspective in that the individual mentally associates themselves with another group but does not physically leave the group (Taylor, 1987). Furthermore Social Identity Theory makes the assumption that everyone views the dominant group as one that would result in a positive identity, whereas this is not always the case (Hogg, 1990). This is seen throughout Sisandas story as she maintains her Zulu Identity even when it is not the dominant group. In conclusion, Sisanda and Andrew have many group identities including, their Zulu and Coloured culture, they are both students at UCT, the courses they have taken up, their social groups and cultural backgrounds amongst many others. The main identity that they have taken up is their language and culture identity and as time progresses their new identity as a student at UCT. They both come from less dominant groups in comparison to the groups they encounter at UCT and this results in the students adopting various identity strategies in order to create a more positive self and group concept and identity. By adopting these strategies they follow the key assumption and that is that they strive to create and maintain an identity that is of a more positive regard (Taylor, 1987). The strategies they adopted resulted in a change in their identity and as a result their group membership’s as well individual identities were changed and new identities were formed in most cases. Finally c riticisms of the theory were made, and from this we come to understand the central ideas of this theory by using examples which put it into perspective and context. 2500 Words References Bangeni, B., Kapp, R. (2005). Identities in transition: Shifting conceptions of home amongst black South African university students. African Studies Review, 48(3), 1 19. De La Rey, C. Duncan, N. (2003). A social psychological perspective. In N, Duncan. K, Ratele, Social psychology. Identities and relationships (pp. 45 66). UCT Press. Hogg, M. (1990). Social identity theory. In P. Burke, Contemporary social psychological theories (pp. 111-136). California: Stanford University Press. Taylor, D. Moghaddam, F. (1987). Social identity theory. In D, Taylor. F, Moghaddam, Theories of intergroup relations: international social psychological perspectives, second edition (pp. 59 84). Westport, CT: Greenwood. Trepte, S. (2006). Social identity theory. In J, Bryant. P, Vorderer, Psychology of entertainment (pp. 256-262). New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

Most Effective Form of Stretching :: essays research papers

The American College of Sports Medicine defined fitness in 1990 by stating that physical fitness is â€Å"a set of attributes that people have or achieve.† (Cited in Dalgleish et al 2001)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This set of attributes can be further defined as cardiovascular fitness, muscular endurance, muscle strength, muscle endurance, motor skills and flexibility.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Cardiovascular fitness involves the heart and lungs supplying the required volume of oxygen to the working muscles.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Muscular endurance is the number of contractions or the length of time a muscle can contract before fatigue occurs.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Muscle strength is the maximum amount of force a muscle can generate in one contraction.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Motor skills is a general term, which covers co-ordination, speed, balance and power.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Flexibility is the range of motion (ROM) in a joint or in a series of joints. Flexibility is improved by stretching connective tissues, muscles and other soft tissue around a joint. Stretching exercises can be divided into different categories depending on the way the muscles and surrounding tissues are stretched. These forms of stretching are static stretching, dynamic stretching, ballistic stretching and proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF). This report will define why athletes stretch and review current literature on each form of stretching and conclude from research which form is the most effective form of stretching. BENEFITS OF STRETCHING Stretching in sport was only used to warm athletes up before an event and cool them down after the event. Stretching was not used as a part of an athletes training programme until the benefits of stretching were recognised. Sigerseth (1971 cited in Elliot & Mester 1999) suggested that skilled performances could be improved by increasing the ROM around various joints. Performance can be improved due to stretching in three ways.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  If range of motion is increased especially in throwing and racquet sports, more force or velocity can be produced. This is possible as this increases in ROM allows the throwing distance to increase and longer period of time in which force can be produced. This results in the speed of the racquet, bat or object being increased, which allows a more powerful, throw, kick or hit to occur. Examples of sports where this occurs is tennis, cricket, baseball and golf. Jobe and Moynes (1986 cited in Elliot and Mester 1999) Studied golfers and found that the higher skilled golfers had twice the range of trunk rotation compared to golfers of lesser skill.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Athletes who compete in sports where performance is judged on the aesthetics

Analysis If Homeward Bound :: essays research papers

Homeward Bound Homeward Bound is a satiric play, which attacks the socially accepted standards of today’s society. This play is known as a comedy of manners; defined as light social satire. Homeward Bound also consists of amusing characters that the audience can relate to. This type of play appeals to mostly sophisticated audiences and actors because the play consists of clever use of language and brilliant conversation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Elliot Hayes’ use of satire in Homeward Bound plays an important part in the telling of the story. His use of satire expresses how the characters feel about each other and their situations. There were many parts of the play that had satire in them. The scene where the mother is talking about her gay son and his partner is an example because it was a mockery of how “normal people'; handled the touchy subject of homosexuality. Another satiric scene is where Norris told her family about her affair, but the circumstances were that she had the affair with Nick’s gay partner and she was bearing his child. This is a very unusual example of satire because this sort of thing usually does not happen to a middle class society (or at least not that I have heard of). The family’s reaction to this newfound information is very humorous because they act almost opposite as to what is expected. Hayes is almost ridiculing the middle class’ mentality and their views on life. Hayes also satirizes when Bonnie reveals Donna’s little secret of her indecent behavior when she was a little child. This was totally unexpected and it revealed Donna’s character as being loose. Even though the characters did the opposite of what was expected and were quite amusing, the audience could relate to them because, before all the surprises were revealed the audience saw the characters as ordinary people. Once the “skeletons'; came out of the closet, the audience realized that euthanasia, homosexuality, alcoholism and affairs are problems that all levels of class face. This realization brings the audience closer to the characters and the circumstances presented on stage. This play appeals more to a sophisticated and mature audience because of the clever use of language and brilliant conversation. There was a lot of slang and colloquialism used. Usage of swears was interesting; it is a normal assumption to make that middle class families are not so crass. This was effective because it provided more realism by showing how people would talk in these serious and yet humorous situations.

A Case Study Depicting the Importance of Ethics in Medicine Essay examp

To protect the individual’s right and confidentiality, the client involved would be referred to as ‘Marge’. Introduction ‘Work for health requires moral commitment’ (Seedhouse, 2009 p. xiviii). Therefore, the obligation rests on healthcare professionals faced with ethical dilemma in their practice to make moral decision which should promote and enhance health ( Rumbold, 1999; Sim, 1997). Ethics is concerned with the basis on which an action is determined as either right or wrong (Rumbold, 1999; MacIntyre, 2005). Therefore, ethics is the study of morality which is also known as moral philosophy (Sim, 1997; Thompson et al, 2006). When one moral principle conflicts with another, it is referred to as a moral or ethical dilemma (Sim, 1997). Hence, ethics provides a framework for addressing dilemmas (Rumbold, 1999). Thus, Thompson et al (2006), highlights that clients are presented as consumers rather than recipients of care. As a result, there seems to have been changes and challenges in health and social care in recent years (Thompson et al, 2006). More than ever before healthcare professionals have to act in the best interest of clients irrespective of their cultural backgrounds, values or religion (Thompson et al, 2006). This essay highlights the Hippocratic Oath as it is translated into principles which inform the modern code of ethics (Preston, 2009). Furthermore, these principles may not be enough in undertaking moral reasoning. Therefore professionals may have to employ some of the ethical theories which include theory of justice, teleology and deontology in deciding the best possible action for Marge in the case study. Marge has been diagnosed with bipolar affective disorder, and the multidisciplinary ... ...s (RMO), Nurses, Occupational Therapists, Social Worker and Psychologist were alerted at the deterioration in Marge’s mental health in the hospital. Marge’s mood has now altered to a manic state. She was constantly laughing and doing Irish dance in the ward. She had also been abusing alcohol and acting in a very flirtatious manner. This behaviour was completely out of character for Marge who is a devout Christian with a reserved persona. Marge also neglected herself- not eating or washing. In the past when depressed, she has made suicide attempts and did not allowed health professionals into her high rise flat. During her last manic episode, she gave away large sums of money. Her judgement was impaired and did not comply with prescribed medication. Marge wants discharged but has no insight into her current manic episodes. So also, her children wanted her home

Athens VS Sparta Essay

Athens and Sparta were two of the greatest Greek city states ever. Not only do these two cities have many differences but they also have some things in common too. But only one could be the best, was it Sparta or Athens? Many people think that Sparta and Athens were completely different, but this is not true, they had many similarities. To start off they were both two of the most powerful and important city states in ancient Greece. Sparta with it amazing army and Athens cultural legacy, they both set the stage for the history of ancient Greece. These two cities’ also had very strict social classes, for example in both city’s wealthy land owners were the top class and slaves were the bottom class. Sparta and Athens were both strong in certain militaristic areas. Athens had very powerful Navy, while Sparta had one of the best Army’s in ancient times. Lastly, both belonged to leagues of allies. Sparta belonged to the Peloponnesian league and Athens belonged to the Delian League. Although Athens and Sparta have things in common they were more different than they were alike. For example the lives of the Spartans revolved around war, preparing for war, educating their kids for war and conquering other countries during war. While Athens had other priorities, like culture, art, education and unification. Spartan children were only educated in the art of battle and taught how to fight, while Athenian children were educated in math, music, poetry and sports. Spartan women also had more rights than Athenian women. Women in Athens were not allowed to leave their homes or participate in any events; they were considered property of their husbands and were responsible for the household duties. On the other hand Spartan women were educated in reading and writing, could participate in sports, own their own land and were treated more as equals. Sparta was one of the first places in the world to start women’s rights. The governments in these two city states were also very different. In Athens there was a direct democracy, meaning all the male citizens of Athens could vote on the laws being passed. Athens believed that all citizens should be included in government decisions and tried to unite the people. Sparta though, had an Oligarchy which was ruled by 2 kings who were usually in command of the armies. Lastly, the cultures of Athens and Sparta were very different. Athens was a united beautiful city full of art, architecture, literature, philosophy, science, medicine and they enjoyed a variety of luxurious foods in their diets. Although, Sparta on the other hand was not very unified, extremely military based and the people didn’t enjoy many luxuries for example the Spartan diet mainly consisted of pork, blood, salt and vinegar. Athens and Sparta were both wonderful cities but only one could be the best, and that was Athens. Athens was the better city in pretty much all aspects of life. The people prospered in Athens they enjoyed fine dining and art, unlike those in Sparta. Athens focused on so much more than just war; this is why Athens was the city that had some of the best cultural achievements in ancient society. They made beautiful art, medical advancements and were one of the first democratic governments, paving the way for countries today like the USA. Athens was cleaner, nicer and prettier which would have made it a much more enjoyable place to live. Athens may not have had as good of an army as Sparta but in the end cultural and society advancements are more important than having the best army in the world. All these reasons and more just shows how much better Athens is than Sparta. Two of the most powerful cities’ in the ancient times, Sparta and Athens were alike and different. They were both unique in different ways and each thrived in different areas. But in the end, it is an obvious choice that Athens was clearly the better Greek City State.

Executive Remuneration Analysis of Vodafone

Executive Remuneration Analysis of Vodafone 1. Introduction Executive remuneration is the compensation which company rewards for the executive directors. Since the early 1980s, executive payment increase rapidly. The unjustified increasing of executive remuneration pushes the reform of remuneration policy. The Cadbury code mentioned this problem in the Code of Practice in 1995. Cadbury gives some suggestions to companies about the executive remuneration policy.According to his suggestions, companies should dividend total payment into the basic salary and performance-based bonus, and the remuneration report should publish in the annual reporting every year [1]. In additional, UK government provides the vote right for shareholders to supervise the company’s executive remuneration, it also can force executive directors taking investors’ interest into account when they design the company strategy [2]. The analysis of big companies’ remuneration policy is more emphasi ze by investors and government, especially after the 2008 financial crisis.Investors are paying more attention to whether the executives deserve the high reward. Therefore, the analysis of executive remuneration is more necessary and valuable. Companies in FTSE 100 have the highest market capitalization in UK, and it means the analysis of FTSE 100 companies is most valuable. Vodafone Group, as one of the biggest company in the FTSE 100 companies, has business in almost 70 countries. And the market capitalization is nearly ? 90bn [3]. Last year, Vittorio Calao, the CEO? of Vodafone received around ? 0m for remuneration in fiscal year 2012, which is one of the highest remuneration in the FTSE 100 [4]. Although the executive rewards are higher than others in the FTSE 100, there still are 96. 12% shareholders voting in favour with the Vodafone’s remuneration policy [5]. This raises the question that why there are a huge amount of shareholders convincingly supports their highest r emuneration. This essay analyses the executive remuneration for Vodafone Group. Firstly, it will talk about the remuneration principle. Then the Remuneration Committee will be discussed.This part aims to measure whether the Remuneration Committee according to the UK Corporate Governance Code. The third part will explain the remuneration package of Vodafone Group, both base salary and various bonuses are included. At last, the essay will discuss the rationality of Vodafone’s executive remuneration from the perspectives of remuneration policy itself and the comparison with other companies. 2. Remuneration principle The aim of Vodafone’s executive remuneration is driving executives to achieve the company’s long-term strategic goals by offering an attractive and competitive reward [6].Vodafone wishes to make sure that their executive directors keeping in the highest level in work by providing an attractive payment. For example, a part of rewards are measured by the performance for this year. Therefore, executive directors were given an opportunity to achieve the truly exceptional performance. The remuneration package is determined by Remuneration Committee after Comprehensive consideration. The Remuneration Committee will choose some relevant group of comparators when setting total reward. It makes sure that the executive remuneration policies are considered on a total compensation basis.The comparators are choosing from some basic considerations, which are as follows: 1) top European companies, 2) top UK companies, 3) particularly for scarce skills, and 4) the relevant market in question [6]. These comparators mean that Europe is the major region for business for Vodafone, and the company is original from UK. According to above three principles, the external comparators are consisting by similar size companies, and the European top 25 companies and a few other select companies relevant to the sector.Additionally, the external comparator group do not including the financial companies, such as bank and insurance company. Another important Remuneration principle is that the rewards will related to the performance both long-term and short-term. According to the Annual Report of 2012, performance-based reward account for 70% in the whole remuneration package [6]. Vodafone build a link between executive directors and shareholders by this way, in order to force executive directors think about shareholders’ interest. 3. Remuneration CommitteeAccording to the UK Corporate Governance Code, the Remuneration Committee must include at least three independent non-executive directors [7]. The Remuneration Committee of Vodafone is consisting by independent non-executive directors and running independently in the company. The chairman of Remuneration Committee is Luc Vandevelde, and there are another five members in the Remuneration Committee. All of them are the non-executive directors in company. There also are two external adv isors: PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (‘pwc’) and Towers Watson.Pwc is responsible for performance analysis and giving suggestions about company strategy and measuring the performance. It also supports the international business of Vodafone, such as tax, finance, compliance and operations. Another external advisor Towers Watson provides the market data of executive payment to Remuneration Committee. They also manage the pensions and benefit for Vodafone [6]. There are a lot of factors need to be considered by Remuneration Committee when deciding the payment package. Firstly, Remuneration Committee consults the CEO and HR directors’ opinion of the appropriate reward package for executives.Secondly, the external advisors give the Committee another perspective form the external information analysis. They can provide the benchmark of directors’ reward about other similar company on the market. Additionally, Committee also take the company’s strategy into ac count, both long-term and short-term are important. In fiscal year 2012, Remuneration Committee had five meetings to discuss the Short-Term Incentive bonus, Long-Term Incentive plan and basic salary in order to determine the total remuneration packages of the executive directors appropriately [6].Remuneration Committee particularly report four chief executive directors in the Directors’ Remuneration Report, including Chief Executive Vittotio Colao, Chief Financial Officer Andy Halford, Chief Technology Officer Stephen Pusey and Regional CEO Europe Michel Combes, and the reporting also include the reward of non-executive directors. 4. Remuneration package The Vodafone remuneration package is divided into five parts: base salary, Global Short-Term Incentive Plan (‘GSTIP’), Global Long-Term Incentive Plan (‘GLTI’) base awards, Global Long-Term Incentive Plan (‘GLTI’) co-investment matching awards and benefit [6].These parts reflect the remu neration policy of Vodafone which make the executives holing a lot of company shares to align the interest of executive directors and investors. It also obeys the UK Corporate Governance Code that keeping the reward in a level which is attractive and motivate to the directors, and designing the performance- related income based on long-term strategy. Base salary aims to attract and retain the best talents. It reflects the directors’ level of skill, experience and the responsibility in Vodafone. In fiscal year 2012, Committee decided the base salary stay at the same level with 2011[6].Global (‘GSTIP’) measure the performance in this financial year with the short- term financial and non- financial target, and the GSTIP is paid in cash in June 2013. The related performance is service revenue (25%), EBITDA (25%), adjusted free cash flow (20%) and competitive performance assessment (30%). This bonus can flow from 0-200% of base salary, and it reward 93. 4% of target f or financial year 2012[6]. Global Long-Term Incentive Plan (‘GLTI’) is consist of performance shares which award every year and vest three years later to force directors on the Vodafone’s long-term strategy.The vesting of performance shares is determined by the adjusted free cash flow and relative TSR performance. Both operational performance and external performance are included in the two measures in GLTI. The target GLTI face value of CEO is 137. 5% for basic salary, and 110% for other directors. In this year, executive directors was rewarded the vesting the shares of 2008 fiscal year at 30. 6% of maximum [6]. Global Long-Term Incentive Plan (‘GLTI’) co-investment matching awards means that executive directors can purchase Vodafone normal shares and turning them to performance shares after holding three years.Benefit is the pension scheme for the executive director and other benefit such as company car and private medical insurance. 5. Analysis of the director remuneration Figure 1 Total remuneration for 2012 (based on Vodafone 2012 Annual Report) The Figure 1 shows the detail of the total remuneration for fiscal year 2012 including a value for GLTI payment. Without the GLTI vesting during this year, Vodafone actually paid 30. 35m pounds to CEO Colao, 19. 27m pounds to CFO Halford, 21m pounds to Europe region CEO Combes, and 14. 08m pounds for CTO Pusey [6].The Figure 1 illustrates that all the four chief executive directors’ incomes are increasing except the CTO Pusey. Although the total rewards were general increased, GSTIP for fiscal year 2012 was decreasing. In the meanwhile, salary and cash in lieu of pension were keeping in the similar level with last year. Therefore, the increasing of total remuneration was due to the significant increasing of the item cash in lieu of GLTI dividends. During the fiscal year 2012, the Global Short-Term Incentive was deduct from last year. The total actual short term incentive pay ment was 93. %, while the target payment is 100% and the maximum payment is 200% for the basic salary [6]. According to the remuneration policy of Vodafone, GSTIP is influenced by the performance for this year. There are four indicates to measure the GSTIP: service revenue, EBITDA, adjusted free cash flow and competitive performance assessment. According to the 2012 annual report, the service revenue slightly increased to 46. 4bn pounds, which was just arrival the target performance [6]. However, the EBITAD and adjust free cash flow were cut down, especially the adjust free cash flow.Because of the loss of China Mobile Limited and the dividends of SFR, the actual pay-out percentage for adjust free cash flow is 8. 5, while the target performance is 20% in the whole GSTIP [6]. The policy of GSTIP is related to both the financial and non-financial performance in this year in order to measure the executive short-term performance in a rational way. The target performance is not only base d on the Vodafone’s strategy and past operation, but also taking the long-term strategy into account. Figure 2 Adjust free cash flow target and range for awards Based on Vodafone 2012 Annual Report) Figure 3 GLTI award for 2008 & 2009 (based on Vodafone 2012 Annual Report) Opposite the reducing of DSTIP, cash for Global Long-Term Incentive Plan is significant increase. The GLTI is determined by adjust free cash flow and the TSR outperformance of a peer group median. These two indicators consist a matrix in order to measure the internal operational performance and external performance. The long-term operation cycle is three years which means the target performance of financial year 2012 was settled in 2010.According to Figure 2, the target for 2012 is 18bn pounds, while the actual adjusted free cash flow for 2012 was 20. 9bn pounds [6]. Another important measure is the TSR performance. The figure 3 shows that Vodafone’s TSR was outperformance than the peer group which c onstitute by the similar size companies. The TSR performance increasing by 18. 5% in 2012, and exceed the target number. Therefore, the TSR performance for 2012 was paid by 100% of maximum to executive directors, while there is only 30% in 2011.Figure 4 Five year historical TSR performance (based on Vodafone 2012 Annual Report) Table 1 Comparison of Vodafone & BT Group (Base on [6] [8] [9] [10]) 201220112010 CEO Reward ?000Total Revenue ?bnCEO Reward ?000Total Revenue ?bnCEO Reward ?000Total Revenue ?bn Vodafone303546. 46282645. 88266844. 47 BT Group250518. 90235920. 1210520. 1 To compare with other similar size companies in UK, figure 4 reflects the Vodafone TSR performance compare with the average level of FSTE 100. From this figure, it indicates that Vodafone’s TSR performance is higher than the average level of FSTE 100.It means that the Vodafone Group is in a better operation situation among FSTE 100 companies. Therefore, it is reasonable that Vodafone’s executive remuneration is higher than the similar size companies. Additionally, the comparison in Table 1 is shown in similar result. BT Group is another strong competitor of Vodafone in UK telecommunication industry. The numbers in table 1 are published in the annual report for the two companies from 2010 to 2012. The total revenue of Vodafone is basically twice as much as BT Group, while the difference between the CEO remuneration is just around ? m in the three years. Through above analysis, Vodafone remuneration is in a rational level, and it is corresponding to its operation performance. 6. Conclusion All in all, Vodafone executive remuneration is acceptable and in a rational level. It not only reflects the operation performance but also obey the rules of UK Corporate Governance Code. The executive remuneration is setting by an independent remuneration committee which consist by five non-executive directors and two external advisors.The remuneration report is published by Remuneration C ommittee in Vodafone’s Annual Report. The remuneration package divide into base salary, Global Short-Term Incentive Plan (‘GSTIP’), Global Long-Term Incentive Plan (‘GLTI’) base awards, Global Long-Term Incentive Plan (‘GLTI’) co-investment matching awards and benefit. Through these five parts, executive reward is related to performance and the investor interest, and can help executives focusing on company’s strategy. Therefore, Vodafone executive remuneration can be seen as a good example in executive remuneration policy.

The Theory of Michelangelo’s Architecture

Michelangelo’s architecture was revolutionary to say the least when observed against the backdrop of the then accepted norms in architecture and arts in general. During his time, architects usually think of architecture and arts in universal terms as seeing the works per se as composed of mathematical numbers (measurements) or geometry. Artists of the Renaissance period expressed their arts in more commonly in abstract forms. Michelangelo, on the other hand, feels, sees, and would interact with his art as though it is an animated thing (p 38). Indeed, it is enlightening to approach a structural design through the lenses of such a genius as the Master. It is important to get enough acquaintance with the anatomy of the whole thing. For Michelangelo, the building is not just a building, but like the human body, it lives and breathes; therefore he could look at a structure and see every part of it as having its unique and special function – as nose, eyes, arms, and other parts of the body have their own special purposes for the proper functioning of the whole physique to the full benefit of the man. While the writers of medieval times would draw their ideas of architectural outline from the human anatomy, most of them do not conceive of the body as a life form. When drawing from the human body any architectural ideas, the assumed perception is that the body is a miniature of the universe with all its parts functioning in perfect harmony. This perfect synchronization though, according to the prevailing notions of the artists of those days, could not be achieved practically since – according to them – it was only an ideal and therefore could not be possibly realized in actuality. Hence, the use of numbers and measurements – in short, geometrical approach. For example, one can just look at the available models, such as those crafted by Francisco Di Giorgio (ideal church plan p. 39), and Cesariano (the Vitruvian Figure, 1521 p 40). The said models, as can be observed, are both replicas of the human body. These architectural designs were common in medieval period. Michelangelo’s attitude was somewhat off tangent when compared to his peers. Indeed, he was different and was very free in terms of his individuality, especially as it was applied to his works. Whereas his contemporaries have chosen to settle for the perfections of mathematical figures/measurements, Michelangelo argued for (as attested in his works) the â€Å"motions† and the â€Å"emotions. For Michelangelo, everything from the observer to the object – including the vast backdrop of the surroundings – are all interconnected, that when an artist sets himself to plan a building, he should consider the presumed interplay between the object (the architectural design of the building), its backdrop (the environment), and the observer. Remember, the structural design for Michelangelo was a dynamic thing which exerts its influence to the observers.

Case About Anthony Tan

Concise Summary of Case – Anthony Tan was one of the most wanted men as he was allegedly charged for murder of Bosnian refugee and Rebels bikie, Edin â€Å"Boz† Smajovic. After 2 years building an export business in Vietnam, he read a media report from NSW, describing him as one of the state’s most wanted men. He was unaware for 2 years of the police hunt for him. He immediately got on the phone, first his lawyer, then to an airline. He was more than willing to return to Australia to fight his allegations.In the end he was arrested and charged for the murder and held on remand in prison for over a year. When he granted bail in August, his trial was to start that same week. Both Anthony Tan and co-accused Nathan Keith Reddy and taken to court. Once the case reached the Supreme Court, the case was dismissed even before the trial had started. This was because, it was understood that the case failed partly due to an alleged confession from a prosecution witness. Juri sdictions of all courts involved –The two courts involved in this case were the Central Local Court and the Supreme Court. The jurisdictions for the local court include the majority of criminal, summary prosecutions in NSW and with civil matters up to $100,000. It also conducts committal proceedings to determine whether or not indictable offences are to be committed to the District and Supreme Court. Meanwhile the jurisdictions for the Supreme Court has unlimited civil jurisdictions and handles claims of more than $750,000. It also deals with the most serious criminal matters, including murder and treason.The initial court for this case (Central Local Court) had refused bail, but when it reached the Supreme Court, the case was dismissed even before the trail had even started. Area of law – The Anthony Tan case was a public, criminal case, as Anthony allegedly broke the criminal law, which is part of the public law (also known as the Common law). The standard of proof i s the amount of evidence which a plaintiff or prosecuting attorney, in a criminal case, must be presented in a trial in order to win.As for a civil case the standard of proof is generally that the plaintiff must prove this case by majority (51%) of the evidence. The standard of proof for this case was it was beyond reasonable doubt. The standard of proof needed for a criminal case is that there must be no reasonable doubt that the defendant committed the crime in order to convict the defendant. The standard of proof in this criminal case, which resulted in the freedom of Mr. Tan, was an alleged confession from a prosecution witness, which led to the case to fail.Was a jury used? Why or why not? – A jury is usually used in the Supreme Court, but the Supreme Court judge had dismissed the case on technical terms, therefore a jury was not needed. It was an interesting case due to the fact that Tan was innocent yet held in jail for more than 1 year. This had a major impact on Anth ony Tan’s life, reputation and his future. For a case that would of continued in the Supreme Court, a jury would have been selected, but due to the fact that the case was dismissed, a jury was not needed.Is a jury effective? – A jury is a group of citizens (usually of 12) who hears the testimony in legal disputes and determines what they believe is the truth. The word jury is derived from the French word jurer, which means, â€Å"to swear an oath. † The jury has generally been successful because their peers judge the accused and the public plays a role in the criminal justice system, as they make the community feel as though they have a voice in situations that concern society at large.The jury is there to represent a cross-section of society and they provide a range of perceptions. Also the responsibility for the verdict is spread across 12 jurors and the system acts as a safety net against corrupt and oppressive conduct by state and/or police force. The jury i s also carefully selected to avoid bias, prejudice, racist, sexist or any other form of discrimination, which can influence the verdict. Also the defense council can remove a juror, if they feel uncomfortable with them being in the jury.

Separation of Colored Molecules Based on their Molecular Lab Report

Separation of Colored Molecules Based on their Molecular - Lab Report Example Chromatography is the method used in separating and analyzing complex mixtures. The separation process consists of a moving phase and a stationary phase. The mixture that is to be isolated is in the moving phase and it is made to pass through the immobile phase. Gel filtration is a procedure by which molecules are removed from a mixture based on their molecular shape and size. In gel filtration chromatography, the stationary phase consists of beads that have pores which span a narrow range that determines the size of the macromolecules to be fractioned. Large molecules that are large to enter the pores of the beads are separated thus comes out of the column first. Examples of gels used in gel filtration are Dextran, Polyacrylamide, and Agarose. When the column of Sephadex gel particles are packed: the volume of the solvent in the beads makes the internal volume (Vi) and that outside makes the external volume (Ve). The volume of the polymer forms the gel matrix volume (Vg). Bed volume is given by: The elution volume of a molecular substance is the volume of solvent that is needed to move out of that substance. Its least amount is the void volume. Small molecules have higher volume available them than the void volume. Where Kd is the coefficient of distribution and molecules have Kd between 0 and 1.The gel filtration column is divided into proteins of known molecular weight and then the Kd of each protein is calculated. The graph of Kd against log10 molecular weight is plotted and this graph allows the molecular weight of the unknown protein to be read from it. The buffer on top of the column was allowed to drain up to the level of the gel until the meniscus just disappeared.

Corporate governance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Corporate governance - Essay Example However, with tightening the belt on the expenditure Stamford International could realize a fruitful financial year as the previous year. With a successful previous financial year, the company has been reluctant to ensure that all expenditure and incomes in the company are appropriately analyzed. The company needs to streamline all the departmental heads. The departmental head should ensure all expenses in the departmental are tightened in order to provide extra cents in value in the earning per share. The effort the staff had displayed did not continue. We had achieved more than the company’s expectations. This made all staff members relax. If this continues, the earning per share may reach a record low value of 3 cents per share. Regardless of the internal conflicts a company has; the investors and stakeholders should not be dragged to the mud. The current situation may result to stakeholders selling their shares at a lower price. In this first quarter, the value per share i s at 47 cents. This is a 5 cent deficit from the previous year’s first quarter earnings. If all departments could maximize their efforts, the company would even be able to exceed the value of 52 cents per share. The earning 52 cents per share in one quarter shows the potential of this organization. In the board meeting we had after the first results of this quarter, all the shareholders had recommendations and corrections they would have implemented. These recommendations would enable the organization to add the value of its share. From the meeting, I realized the company was not operating at its full potential and with adjustments department head could increase the output of the company. It was also generated from the board meeting that investors would abandon the company if we do not register I higher share value in the second first quarter. Additionally, if this scenario does not change, shareholders may opt to sell their shares at lower prices in order to avoid getting ve ry low dividends. This meant that the second quarter of this financial year would be the determinant of whether or not the company will retain its shareholders and investors. The move to start streamlining the company from the departments is the fact that some departments played a significant role in the declining in the value of the company’s shares. For instance, the procurement department contributed to a 2 cents loss per share. This loss was generated from bad inventory the department had received. The negligence of this department made the company incur expenses in replacing the bad inventory. This expense could be avoided if the department was under proper management. In my opinion, the public presentation of the earning per share should be increased in figures. However, these adjustments should be made in consideration of what the earning peer share could be if all expenses remained constant in all quarters (6). The company should also use forecasts in planning the adj ustment. However, forecasted figures developed should be accurate. The agreement should also be jointly be reached upon by the management and board members. In my opinion, the management should consider increasing the earning per share by 5 cents. In adding 5 cents on the current 47 cents per share, the value will rise to 52 cents per share. Since we are at the first quarter, 52 cents earning per share will portray a good progress among the stakeholders. This will also lead

Russian - Ukrainian relations since 1991 Essay

Russian - Ukrainian relations since 1991 - Essay Example The most significant new states resulting from the break-up of the Soviet Union are unquestionably Russia and Ukraine. Referred to as the â€Å"big two†, Russia’s population at the time of the break-up was at 150 million while Ukraine’s population was at 50 million. More importantly, Ukraine is the second largest post-Soviet state after Russia. As Ukraine seeks to establish itself as an independent nation and to forge ties with Western powers, Russia is determined to establish itself as an empire and is therefore focused on obtaining and sustaining both regional and international power. Arguably, there is an underlying ideology that fuels Russia’s drive to obtain and sustain regional and international power. From the perspective of the Russian Nationalist, Russia maintains a separate identity from the West and Ukraine provides the border between the West and Russia. Therefore, looked at from the Russian nationalist perspective, it is not possible for Ukraine to exist as a state independent of Russia. This research study argues that this is the principle theme underlying Russia’s foreign policy and is also the main source of tension in the relationship between Russia and Ukraine since 1991. In order to substantiate this argument, this paper is divided into three main parts. The first part of this paper describes the events leading up to the break-up of the Soviet Union and how those events left Russian-Ukrainian relations in 1991 at the start of the post-Soviet era. The second part of this research study analyses Russia’s foreign policy after 1991. ... ..16 B. The Orange Revolution†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...21 C. Relations During Yuschenko and Tymoshenko’s Administration..24 D. The Return of Yanukovich:the Sevastopol Deal and Energy Supplies†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..29 V. Conclusion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.34 Bibliography†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...36 I. Introduction The most significant new states resulting from the break-up of the Soviet Union are unquestionably Russia and Ukraine. Referred to as the â€Å"big two†, Russia’s population at the time of the break-up was at 150 million while Ukraine’s population was at 50 million.5 More importantly, Ukraine is the second largest post-Soviet state after Russia.6 As Ukraine seeks to establish itself as an independent nation and to forge ties with Western powers, Russia is determined to establish itself as an empire and is therefore focused on obtaining and sustaining both regional and international power.7 Arguably, there is an underlying ideology that fuels Russia’s drive to obtain and sustain regional and international power. From the perspective of the Russian Nationalist, Russia maintains a separate identity from the West and Ukraine provides the border between the West and Russia. Therefore, looked at from the Russian nationalist perspective, it is not possible for Ukraine to exist as a state independent of Russia.8 This research study argues that this is the principle theme underlying Russia ’s foreign policy and is also the main source of tension in the relationship between Russia and Ukraine since 1991. In order to substantiate this argument, this paper is divided into