Emergency Mnagement 670 Week 4 Conf Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Emergency Mnagement 670 Week 4 Conf - Assignment Example ency action plan includes conducting a workplace evaluation which defines how rescuers will react to different types of crisis situations, considering specific worksite plans, operational features and emergency systems (Department of Homeland Security, 2010). Based on this context, various elements of emergency planning can be identified which are described as follows: Policy: An effective emergency management plan includes effective evacuation policies in the time of crisis situations. The policy must therefore address all possible emergency situations, magnitudes of emergencies, mandatory activities, written procedures to deal with the situations and resources available (Canton, 2006). Alertness: Alertness is the second vital element of effective emergency management planning. Alertness denotes the rapidity of changes in behavior to restrict the influence of disaster situations and is considered as a constant cycle of planning, supervising, categorizing, training, assessing and monitoring activities to certify effective direction and improvement of capabilities which further helps to inhibit the consequences of any kind of emergency situation (Department of Homeland Security, 2008). Reaction: Reaction is the other vital element of effective emergency planning. Reaction comprises deployment of essential emergency facilities and initial responders in the disaster zone. It also acts as the basis of emergency planning which empowers effective management of rescue and searching activities (McCreight, 2011). Recovery: Recovery is the other element of effective emergency planning. The objective of recovery in effective emergency planning is to restore the disaster affected zones to facilitate the prosperity of the community. Recovery activities are related with the emergency plans which need to be prepared after recognizing instantaneous necessities which are identified after the crisis. Recovery functions are basically related with activities which include

Assessing Importance of School Factors Such as Racism Essay Example for Free

Assessing Importance of School Factors Such as Racism Essay A variety of material disadvantages that may confront ethnic minorities coming from working class backgrounds are they do not achieve the same level of education. The main achievers are Indian, Chinese and African students, but the lowest achievers are Turkish, Bangladeshi And Afro Caribbean students. The white working class students are the lowest achieving, which is peculiar because most sociologists are white who stereotype and label other students from different backgrounds. The main cause of underachievement in schools are cultural and language factors which sociologists clarify and focus on and are thought to be main cause of everything. Previously the spotlight has been put on what happens in school and racism in common As shown by Cecile Wright, which explains that, Asian students can also be the victims of teachers Cecile found out that regardless of the schools evident promise to equal opportunities, teachers still hold ethnocentric views they believe that British culture and English are greater. This prepared teachers to assume that they would have a poor pronunciation of English and left them out of class debates or used basic, childlike speech when speaking to them. Asian pupils also felt cut off when teachers spoken dissatisfaction of their behaviour or misread their names. Teachers saw them not as a risk but as a difficulty they could take no notice of. This resulted in that Asian pupils in particular the girls were hard-pressed to the limits and disallowed from play a part fully. Close at hand is proof of teacher racial discrimination and harmful labelling. Nevertheless study shows that pupils can take action in variety of ways. They may take action by becoming unsettling or withdrawn but pupils may decline to agree to the label and even choose to prove it incorrect by putting in hard work. Off-putting labels do not repeatedly twist into self-fulfilling prophecy Working class white pupils attain below standards and have lesser desires. There isn’t much parental support at home, which means there is low achievement and goals. Reports show that teachers have to deal with low level of behaviour and discipline in white working class schools. Nevertheless they had fewer kids on benefit programs teachers blame this on inadequate parental support at home and negative attitude that white working class parents have towards their children and their education. The life in the street for white working class can be tough for pupils which means they get used to getting intimidating and intimidate other which they pick up and use in school to cause disruptions and make it hard for other students to succeed at school. Underachievement of student of different is blamed on cultural deprivation. Few sociologists say that Afro-Caribbean families lack a close relationship to their family and therefore are extremely violent towards everything they do. Arguments explain that families aren’t very supportive towards their children and they don’t offer enough cultural capital for their children. Stereotypical views suggest those students are not deprived because of their class or because of their backgrounds. Factors like social class are important to certain ethnic minorities like Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and a considerable amount of Afro-Caribbean students, which are all working class backgrounds in which material deprivation play a main role because to find out why they achieve below the national standards. Sociologists say schools and curriculums made just for one specific group of ethnic minority gives priority to one particular ethnic minority while disregarding other ethnic groups. Some schools have curriculums, which are ethnocentric because they only give priority to English languages. The British curriculum has been described as exclusively British. In history Britain is thought to bring civilisation to ancient people are colonised. Black people as inferior weakens black children’s self esteem and Leads to them to underachieving and failing. It isn’t for sure what effects the ethnocentric study shows that black don’t really suffer from low self esteem. Wright’s study found some ethnic minority groups received poorer interaction from staff. Teachers perceptions were seem as stereotypical although Asian students were seen as good and black students were seen disruptive and disobedient. Study show that schools in cities which contain ethnic minority students were not benefitting in terms of O Levels entries because of being in low set and having to achieve high grade in order to get good results and become successful. Overall taking into consideration we can not split or label ethnicity from social classes and gender since this is really difficult matter as some of the main achieving students are from ethnic minorities so for that reason there isn’t a connection here so we can’t make statements or come to conclusions as to what the association among ethnic groups and schools actually are. Pupils can refuse to accept negative classing and teacher expectations. Sociologists can’t come to a conclusion to explain what occurs between teacher and students or what takes place in different ethnic groups related to education. Students live up to roles they are given but can try to resist the labels and getting put behind by carrying out what is thought of them to do or do what they want to do and achieve good education and become successful.

The Development of Behavioral Psychology Essay -- science, J.R. Angell

The human mind and the way humans behave have been primary topics of study amongst historians for many years. Studies have been conducted in different professional areas to gain knowledge and understanding of humans, in an attempt to control behavior. The study of human behavior is known as behavioral psychology or behaviorism. The goal of early behaviorists and functionalists was to bring about a more reliable psychology. The behaviorists believed they would achieve this goal by excluding introspection and focus on the study of behaviorism. This evolution was achieved with help from the zeitgeist, behaviorist, and organizational psychology. This paper will discuss J.R. Angell and his prediction of the shift in psychology from introspection to behaviorism, the persons and idea’s helped to carry out the shift, how the zeitgeist supported the shift, and how the development of industrial psychology played its part in the shift. On what did Angell base his opinion? J. R. Angell was a psychologist and educator, who studied under John Dewey and William James. Angell worked as a psychology instructor at the University of Minnesota. It was at this university that Angell formed a psychology department in 1905 (Schultz and Schultz, 2012, p.294). Schultz and Schultz (2008) wrote: J.R. Angell at the University of Chicago, perhaps the most progressive of the functional psychologists, predicted that American psychology was ready for greater objectivity. In 1910, he commented that it seemed possible that the term consciousness would disappear from psychology, much as the term soul had disappeared. (p. 293) Behaviorism, which contended to end structuralism without compromise, was underway when Angell made his 2008 statement. J.R. Angell is su... ...or individuals. Conclusion Psychology has grown from the founding of behaviorism. Many individuals and ideas played a big part in setting the atmosphere for behaviorism to be widely accepted. Zeitgeist of that time period had also contributed to the acceptance of behaviorism. Therefore, when Watson came on the scene, it was not difficult for his ideas to be accepted. Even organizational psychology had its role by showing one can apply techniques in every aspect to bring change. Works Cited Buckley, K. W. (1989). Mechanical Man: John Broadus Watson and the Beginnings of Behaviorism. New York: The Guilford press Goss, A. E. (1961). Early behaviorism and verbal mediating responses. American psychologist, 16(6), 285-298. Schultz, D.P. & Schultz, S. E. (2012). A history of modern psychology, (10th Ed.) Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning

The Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress Essays -- Dai Sijie

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress is a marvelous novel, written by Dai Sijie, which himself was re-educated between 1971 and 1974 during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. In Dai Sijie’s Balzac and the Little Seamstress three separate accounts are given of an incident in which Luo and the Little Seamstress make love in an isolated mountain pool. Two of these perspectives are given by the participants while the third is provided by the old miller who observes their love making from a distance. Of all the accounts, I found the count of this incident of Little Seamstress most appealing as she is able to present at an imaginative description of this setting and allow the readers to understand her thoughts and feelings. In contrast the account of the Old Miller is more detached and is more focused about the physical beauty of the Little Seamstress, while Luo’s story to me is more focused on his own concerns and is desire to escape the remote mountain village which he ha s been sent. The Old Miller’s perspective conveys the sense that he is both transfixed by what he sees, but he feel shamed for being unable to take his eyes off the lovers. Their acrobatic movements in the water make him feel his age in the fact that he realizes he can never again enjoy such pleasures. What he focuses on is their nudity and their coupling. This is captured in the image of â€Å"their bodies entwined, whirling round and round in the water.† Feeling â€Å"rooted to the spot† he notices â€Å"the limpid water glittering in the sun exaggerated and distorted their obscene movements.† The miller’s account makes the reader feel like a voyeur and imagine the old man with his face â€Å"reddened.† He is overcome by the beauty of the Little Seamstress â€Å"her naked belly and un... ...h an injury on the Little Seamstress’s finger. A turning point comes up when they get back to the village and finds out that his mother’s been rushed to the hospital, which than he has to visit her for a month. Out of the three stories told by Luo, the Old Miller and the Chinese Seamstress, I find the Little Chinese Seamstress’s story more appealing than others. From my view, it shows a variety of meanings because overall, the Little Seamstress was not educated, but from this story I could tell that she gained knowledge and was able to use what she was capable of doing and you would not expect to gain feedback from a woman who just had relationship with a man. Luo’s story is also very appealing but it shows only concerns for himself and is own feelings. Whereas the Chinese Seamstress was more appealing and showed improvement of her ability to think independently.

Economic Justification for High Salaries in Sport

Justification of the huge salaries paid to some top athletes; an economic perspective. Over the last century there has been much research into the area of Labour Economics, and hence the determinants of supply, demand and wages for labour. In this essay, I will be looking at the unique example of the Sports Labour Market with specific focus on the European Football Market, and use various economic models to justify the huge salaries currently offered to top athletes within this field.The wages of professional footballers have risen dramatically since the Bosman ruling in December 1995, in which EU football players were given the right to a  free transfer  at the end of their contracts, with the provision that they were transferring from a club within one EU Association to a club within another EU Association (European Commission, 2012).This has been supported by various studies, including (Simmons, 1997), who argued that the move towards a free agency had the consequent impact of increasing players’ salaries, as the forgone transfer fees translate into increased salaries, since the bargaining power is transferred to the player. This was reinforced by (Downward, 2000) who found that post-Bosman, the wages within the United Kingdom’s Premier League rose considerably.However, these findings conflict with other studies conducted, including (Szymanski, 1999), who argued that the new ruling only lead to increased wages for superstar players who have the greatest bargaining power, and that it did not affect the wages for the average player. During this essay I will first discuss the basic economic principles relating to the labour market, and subsequently introduce various models developed with specific focus on the sports labour market. Demand for labour is â€Å"derived demand† because it is dependent on the demand for the final product that the labour produces (R.Sandy, 2004). The conventional model used to analyse wage determinants states that the demand for labour is dependent on the Marginal Revenue Product of Labour (MRP) which is â€Å"the change in revenue that results from the addition of one extra unit (employee) when all other factors are kept equal† (Investopedia, 2012). In the field of sport, the industry is in a real sense selling its athletes, hence the demand for labour is dependent on the athletes â€Å"product† which could be viewed as his or her contribution towards the teams win column. The value of a win to the ports franchise is dependent on how the fans respond when the team wins more games. This value could be realised through the many revenue streams that sports franchises currently operate, perhaps most notably in the form of increased ticket sales, increased spending on merchandise and prize money. The â€Å"Standard Model† or â€Å"Perfect Competition Model† for wage determinants assumes that the sports franchise will operate at the profit maximising level of outpu t, i. e. when the last unit of labour that is added adds as much to the firms revenues as to its costs > MRPL = MCL as shown in Figure 1.Figure 1– PC Model Revenue and cost Marginal Wage Cost ARP MRP Employment of labour However, there are many limitations to this model, as the labour market for competitive athletes is far more complex. One basic argument against this model is that if in a perfectly competitive industry; firms earn abnormal profits, it assumes that more firms will enter the market and diminish these returns. Nonetheless, there are huge barriers to entry in the professional sports industry, and freedom of entry and exit does not exist.If we look at the Premier League for example, each club typically has a local monopoly, and due to the nature of the market, one firm may bid up the price of labour as it hires more units, hence in the sense it could be viewed as a monopsonistic market (R. Sandy, 2004). Furthermore, there is uncertainty over quality, as sports te ams have uncertainty over both the new players they hire and even experienced players and in the PC model the quality of labour is assumed to be known to the firm. Also due to long-term contracts it is impossible to predict how their skills will deteriorate or improve ver that period and if any injuries will occur. Furthermore, Players have to learn the weaknesses and strengths of their team-mates and to coordinate their strategies. A group of players who have been together for years will be much more effective than a group of equally talented individuals who have just been assembled into a team (R. Sandy, 2004). When establishing a suitable model to justify the enormous wages paid to some top athletes, we should first consider some basic economic principles. By definition, Star players are scarce hence the supply of these star players is highly inelastic.This in itself would inflate the wage of these players, as the supply of top talent is very limited. To add a unit of player qual ity the team has to pay a higher price than it paid for its last unit of quality (Robinsion, 2012). However, it has been suggested that the labour supply curve has become more elastic since the globalisation of the sports labour market. Sherwin Rosen’s seminal 1981 paper on the economics of superstars asked the question why â€Å"relatively small numbers of people earn enormous amounts of money and seem to dominate the fields in which they engage. Rosen suggests that in superstar markets, â€Å"small differences in talent at the top of the distribution will translate into large differences in revenue† (Rosen, 1981). This suggests that the MRP of labour in sports, accelerates at an almost exponential rate as talent or quality increases, and profit-maximisers will operate where MRPL = MCL, hence leading to high salaries. Rosen simple insight was that â€Å"†¦ sellers of higher talent charge only slightly higher prices than those of lower talent, but sell much larg er quantities; their greater earnings come overwhelmingly from selling larger quantities than from charging higher prices†.This was tested empirically on the Italian League by Simmons & Lucifora in 2003 and the findings were consistent with Rosen’s hypothesis, and found that relatively small number of performers dominate their industry and earn a disproportionate share of revenue (Simmons C. L. , 2003). Furthermore, in a study conducted by (Depken, 2000), it was found that performance may be affected by the dispersion of pay within teams. Hefound, empirically, that less salary disparity resulted in greater team cohesiveness and more efficient team production.Another justification given for these huge salaries has been deemed the â€Å"Demonstration Effect†. This is a positiveexternality in the sense that a team which hires a superstar may raise the revenues of other teams in the league. This was found by Hausman and Leonard (1997) who established that the presenc e of a superstar such as Michael Jordan can have a substantial effect on the number of viewers watching NBA basketball games and increase other teams’ revenue as well as his own (Leonard, 1997). Perhaps one of the most important factors relating to salaries is the underlying motive of owners.There have been various views on whether owners actually employ a utility maximisation or profit maximisation strategy, and in the European Football industry, it could be argued that both forms exist. Gerald Scully investigated the theoretical relationship between a club’s winning percentage, ticket prices, attendance and profits. He stated that the marginal cost of acquiring player talent (T) is given by MC(T). Also, the demand for wins depends on thesize of the franchise market and the elasticity of fans demand for wins.In this model the term we represents a profit-maximising winning percentage where MC(T) = MR(T), the marginal revenue derived from a particular level of talent, w ith Te being the profit-maximising level of talent required to produce this outcome. This can be shown in Figure 2 Figure 2 – Scully’s Model Price / Cost Te MC(T) P C D(T) MR(T) Win percentage W2 We W1 However, playing success has a random component due to injuries, mistakes by the referee, or a mismatch between managerial skills and players.Thus, there is a range of win percentages associated with Te talent such as w1 – w2. In turn this range gives rise to variation in attendance between A1 and A2 in Figure 3. To show the relationship between profit and win percentage Scully uses Figure 4. He shows a horizontal line ? = 0 which describes the club’s break-even point. He also makes the assumption that costs other than talent are fixed. Since Scully assumes that revenue is proportional to the team’s winning percentage, as indicated by ? T) in Figure 3, but that costs are fixed for the season, teams will make positive profits for winning percentages a bove or close to the profit maximising level, we, as shown by ? 0 Attendance Profit Figure 3Figure 4 ?(T) = TR ? TC A ?3 A3 ?2 A2 ?0 ?1 A1 Win percentage 0 w3 w2 w1 Win Percentage 0 w3 w2 w1 On the other hand, there are some criticisms to this model. Firstly, considering European Football, clubs also compete in European competitions, therefore giving incentive to have T >Te. In addition, Scully’s model focuses on the proportion of games won.Fans may be more interested in their team contending for a championship. These are not the same; hence in an evenly balanced league a team with nearly 50% wins could be in contention while in a highly unbalanced league a team with 60% wins could be out of contention. The utility maximisation model was introduced by Peter Sloane in 1971, and he viewed that in the case of football this model was intuitively the most appealing in since we may regard football as a consumption activity (Sloane, 1971).In Sloane’s model the utility U of an owner is a function, u, of; playing success; defined as the percentage of wins, (w); average attendance which adds to the spectacle and atmosphere (a); the competitive balance of the league defined as the standard deviation of league-wide winning percentages (x); having attractive opponents increases the interest in games; and after tax profits minus the threshold level of profit required to stay in business (x); profits add to the stability of the club and help to attract star players.Thus Utility Maximisation is the function denoted by U = u (w, a, x, ? ), subject to ? r 0 + taxes; where ? r equals actual profits and ? 0 equals minimum profits. Both ? r and ? 0 may in fact be negative, in which case the taxes due would be zero. This is possible where the club has access to external sources of finance (f). In this model, the owner might weight each component of the function differently; hence if the owner puts a high weight on w then they will be prepared to trade off some rofit ( or make losses) in order to secure additional playing success. Sloane’s model is perhaps even more relevant today, as there has been a recent trend for billionaires to acquire football clubs and spend unprecedented amounts on talent, purely to maximise the amount of wins. Implications of this model could also be used to describe the financial instability of some clubs, and the unbalanced performance of many European Leagues. Figure 5 – Sloane ModelReturns and cost of winning L’’ D TC C TRL L’ S’’ B TRS S’ A 0 W’L W’s WL Ws Win Percentage This result is illustrated in Figure 5, which compares a big city club, L, with a small city club, S, competing in a two-team league. As with the Scully model, it is assumed that costs of producing wins rises linearly and are identical for both clubs. Returns to winning rise initially at an increasing rate, but then at a decreasing rate as interest wanes if a team wins too often.T he total returns to winning schedule for a large city team TRL lies above that for a small city team TRS as the larger population catchment area in the former case means that the large city team will attract more spectators for any given winning percentage. The financial instability arises from the zero sum nature of the wins within the league. If the large city team wins more often, denoted by L’, this means that the small city team will win less often, denoted by S’. Thus the success of one club will drive the other into the area of loss making (anywhere below TC).Due to the different regulations and restrictions, there is no one-size fits all model, but in the case of European Football, the most influential factor relating to players wages is the motives of the owner. Many high profile clubs in recent times have been criticised for spending endless sums of money to bring in the talent to enable them to win. Perhaps most notably, in the case of Chelsea, Roman Abromav ich total spending has surpassed â‚ ¬1bn [ (Jackson, 2012) ], and Chelsea has consistently reported losses with Abramovich’s sole mission of wanting to win the European Champions League.When looking at Sloane’s model, it could be viewed that in the case of utility maximisation, that Abramovich puts heavy weighting on the winning aspect of the function, with little or no emphasis on profits, and perhaps in this rare example, it could be viewed that he has no have a maximum loss. To overcome this growing trend, UEFA have implemented new rules regarding Financial Fair Play which includes an obligation for clubs, over a period of time, to balance their books or break even.Under the concept, clubs cannot repeatedly spend more than their generated revenues, and clubs will be obliged to meet all their transfer and employee payment commitments at all times† [ (UEFA, 2012) ]. This would be a new factor that needs to be introduced into economic models. Furthermore, it c ould be viewed that the traditional business model of Football clubs is changing, as in the case of David Beckham, the increased merchandise sales realised by Real Madrid and LA Galaxy has meant that they have been able to justify his huge salaries ased on the marginal revenue product that he generates. Some superstars can have huge impacts on franchises total revenue, as described in the superstar effect, and clubs are forced to pay all players huge salaries to prevent underperformance due to pay disparity. Bibliography Ross Jackson. (2012, 02 01). Goal. com. Retrieved from http://www. goal. com/en-gb/news/2896/premier-league/2012/02/01/2879167/roman-abramovichs-chelsea-spending-surpasses-1-billion Depken, C. (2000). Wage disparity and team productivity: evidence from major. Economics Letters 67 . Downward, P. . (2000). The Economics of Professional Team Sports. London: Routledge. European Commission. (2012, 12 02). White Paper on Sport. Retrieved from The Organisation of Sport: ht tp://ec. europa. eu/sport/white-paper/swd-the-organisation-of-sport_en. htm#4_2 Investopedia. (2012, 12 02). Marginal Revenue Product. Retrieved from http://www. investopedia. com/terms/m/marginal-revenue-product-mrp. asp#axzz2Duw8EOwf Leonard, J. H. (1997). Superstars in the NBA. Journal of Labour Economics . R. Sandy, P. S. (2004). The Economics of Sport; An International Perspective.New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Robinsion, T. (2012). The Labour Market for Players Lecture. Manchester. Rosen, S. (1981). The Economics of Superstars. The American Economic Review . Simmons. (1997). Implications of the Bosman Ruling. Economic Affairs , 13-18. Simmons, C. L. (2003). Superstar Effects in Sport : Evidence From Italian Soccer. Journal of Sports Economics . Sloane, P. J. (1971). The Economics of Professional Football: The Football Club As A Utility Maximiser. Scottish Journal of Political Economy . Szymanski, K. &. (1999). Winners and Losers. London: Penguin. Economic Justification for High Salaries in Sport Justification of the huge salaries paid to some top athletes; an economic perspective. Over the last century there has been much research into the area of Labour Economics, and hence the determinants of supply, demand and wages for labour. In this essay, I will be looking at the unique example of the Sports Labour Market with specific focus on the European Football Market, and use various economic models to justify the huge salaries currently offered to top athletes within this field.The wages of professional footballers have risen dramatically since the Bosman ruling in December 1995, in which EU football players were given the right to a  free transfer  at the end of their contracts, with the provision that they were transferring from a club within one EU Association to a club within another EU Association (European Commission, 2012).This has been supported by various studies, including (Simmons, 1997), who argued that the move towards a free agency had the consequent impact of increasing players’ salaries, as the forgone transfer fees translate into increased salaries, since the bargaining power is transferred to the player. This was reinforced by (Downward, 2000) who found that post-Bosman, the wages within the United Kingdom’s Premier League rose considerably.However, these findings conflict with other studies conducted, including (Szymanski, 1999), who argued that the new ruling only lead to increased wages for superstar players who have the greatest bargaining power, and that it did not affect the wages for the average player. During this essay I will first discuss the basic economic principles relating to the labour market, and subsequently introduce various models developed with specific focus on the sports labour market. Demand for labour is â€Å"derived demand† because it is dependent on the demand for the final product that the labour produces (R.Sandy, 2004). The conventional model used to analyse wage determinants states that the demand for labour is dependent on the Marginal Revenue Product of Labour (MRP) which is â€Å"the change in revenue that results from the addition of one extra unit (employee) when all other factors are kept equal† (Investopedia, 2012). In the field of sport, the industry is in a real sense selling its athletes, hence the demand for labour is dependent on the athletes â€Å"product† which could be viewed as his or her contribution towards the teams win column. The value of a win to the ports franchise is dependent on how the fans respond when the team wins more games. This value could be realised through the many revenue streams that sports franchises currently operate, perhaps most notably in the form of increased ticket sales, increased spending on merchandise and prize money. The â€Å"Standard Model† or â€Å"Perfect Competition Model† for wage determinants assumes that the sports franchise will operate at the profit maximising level of outpu t, i. e. when the last unit of labour that is added adds as much to the firms revenues as to its costs > MRPL = MCL as shown in Figure 1.Figure 1– PC Model Revenue and cost Marginal Wage Cost ARP MRP Employment of labour However, there are many limitations to this model, as the labour market for competitive athletes is far more complex. One basic argument against this model is that if in a perfectly competitive industry; firms earn abnormal profits, it assumes that more firms will enter the market and diminish these returns. Nonetheless, there are huge barriers to entry in the professional sports industry, and freedom of entry and exit does not exist.If we look at the Premier League for example, each club typically has a local monopoly, and due to the nature of the market, one firm may bid up the price of labour as it hires more units, hence in the sense it could be viewed as a monopsonistic market (R. Sandy, 2004). Furthermore, there is uncertainty over quality, as sports te ams have uncertainty over both the new players they hire and even experienced players and in the PC model the quality of labour is assumed to be known to the firm. Also due to long-term contracts it is impossible to predict how their skills will deteriorate or improve ver that period and if any injuries will occur. Furthermore, Players have to learn the weaknesses and strengths of their team-mates and to coordinate their strategies. A group of players who have been together for years will be much more effective than a group of equally talented individuals who have just been assembled into a team (R. Sandy, 2004). When establishing a suitable model to justify the enormous wages paid to some top athletes, we should first consider some basic economic principles. By definition, Star players are scarce hence the supply of these star players is highly inelastic.This in itself would inflate the wage of these players, as the supply of top talent is very limited. To add a unit of player qual ity the team has to pay a higher price than it paid for its last unit of quality (Robinsion, 2012). However, it has been suggested that the labour supply curve has become more elastic since the globalisation of the sports labour market. Sherwin Rosen’s seminal 1981 paper on the economics of superstars asked the question why â€Å"relatively small numbers of people earn enormous amounts of money and seem to dominate the fields in which they engage. Rosen suggests that in superstar markets, â€Å"small differences in talent at the top of the distribution will translate into large differences in revenue† (Rosen, 1981). This suggests that the MRP of labour in sports, accelerates at an almost exponential rate as talent or quality increases, and profit-maximisers will operate where MRPL = MCL, hence leading to high salaries. Rosen simple insight was that â€Å"†¦ sellers of higher talent charge only slightly higher prices than those of lower talent, but sell much larg er quantities; their greater earnings come overwhelmingly from selling larger quantities than from charging higher prices†.This was tested empirically on the Italian League by Simmons & Lucifora in 2003 and the findings were consistent with Rosen’s hypothesis, and found that relatively small number of performers dominate their industry and earn a disproportionate share of revenue (Simmons C. L. , 2003). Furthermore, in a study conducted by (Depken, 2000), it was found that performance may be affected by the dispersion of pay within teams. Hefound, empirically, that less salary disparity resulted in greater team cohesiveness and more efficient team production.Another justification given for these huge salaries has been deemed the â€Å"Demonstration Effect†. This is a positiveexternality in the sense that a team which hires a superstar may raise the revenues of other teams in the league. This was found by Hausman and Leonard (1997) who established that the presenc e of a superstar such as Michael Jordan can have a substantial effect on the number of viewers watching NBA basketball games and increase other teams’ revenue as well as his own (Leonard, 1997). Perhaps one of the most important factors relating to salaries is the underlying motive of owners.There have been various views on whether owners actually employ a utility maximisation or profit maximisation strategy, and in the European Football industry, it could be argued that both forms exist. Gerald Scully investigated the theoretical relationship between a club’s winning percentage, ticket prices, attendance and profits. He stated that the marginal cost of acquiring player talent (T) is given by MC(T). Also, the demand for wins depends on thesize of the franchise market and the elasticity of fans demand for wins.In this model the term we represents a profit-maximising winning percentage where MC(T) = MR(T), the marginal revenue derived from a particular level of talent, w ith Te being the profit-maximising level of talent required to produce this outcome. This can be shown in Figure 2 Figure 2 – Scully’s Model Price / Cost Te MC(T) P C D(T) MR(T) Win percentage W2 We W1 However, playing success has a random component due to injuries, mistakes by the referee, or a mismatch between managerial skills and players.Thus, there is a range of win percentages associated with Te talent such as w1 – w2. In turn this range gives rise to variation in attendance between A1 and A2 in Figure 3. To show the relationship between profit and win percentage Scully uses Figure 4. He shows a horizontal line ? = 0 which describes the club’s break-even point. He also makes the assumption that costs other than talent are fixed. Since Scully assumes that revenue is proportional to the team’s winning percentage, as indicated by ? T) in Figure 3, but that costs are fixed for the season, teams will make positive profits for winning percentages a bove or close to the profit maximising level, we, as shown by ? 0 Attendance Profit Figure 3Figure 4 ?(T) = TR ? TC A ?3 A3 ?2 A2 ?0 ?1 A1 Win percentage 0 w3 w2 w1 Win Percentage 0 w3 w2 w1 On the other hand, there are some criticisms to this model. Firstly, considering European Football, clubs also compete in European competitions, therefore giving incentive to have T >Te. In addition, Scully’s model focuses on the proportion of games won.Fans may be more interested in their team contending for a championship. These are not the same; hence in an evenly balanced league a team with nearly 50% wins could be in contention while in a highly unbalanced league a team with 60% wins could be out of contention. The utility maximisation model was introduced by Peter Sloane in 1971, and he viewed that in the case of football this model was intuitively the most appealing in since we may regard football as a consumption activity (Sloane, 1971).In Sloane’s model the utility U of an owner is a function, u, of; playing success; defined as the percentage of wins, (w); average attendance which adds to the spectacle and atmosphere (a); the competitive balance of the league defined as the standard deviation of league-wide winning percentages (x); having attractive opponents increases the interest in games; and after tax profits minus the threshold level of profit required to stay in business (x); profits add to the stability of the club and help to attract star players.Thus Utility Maximisation is the function denoted by U = u (w, a, x, ? ), subject to ? r 0 + taxes; where ? r equals actual profits and ? 0 equals minimum profits. Both ? r and ? 0 may in fact be negative, in which case the taxes due would be zero. This is possible where the club has access to external sources of finance (f). In this model, the owner might weight each component of the function differently; hence if the owner puts a high weight on w then they will be prepared to trade off some rofit ( or make losses) in order to secure additional playing success. Sloane’s model is perhaps even more relevant today, as there has been a recent trend for billionaires to acquire football clubs and spend unprecedented amounts on talent, purely to maximise the amount of wins. Implications of this model could also be used to describe the financial instability of some clubs, and the unbalanced performance of many European Leagues. Figure 5 – Sloane ModelReturns and cost of winning L’’ D TC C TRL L’ S’’ B TRS S’ A 0 W’L W’s WL Ws Win Percentage This result is illustrated in Figure 5, which compares a big city club, L, with a small city club, S, competing in a two-team league. As with the Scully model, it is assumed that costs of producing wins rises linearly and are identical for both clubs. Returns to winning rise initially at an increasing rate, but then at a decreasing rate as interest wanes if a team wins too often.T he total returns to winning schedule for a large city team TRL lies above that for a small city team TRS as the larger population catchment area in the former case means that the large city team will attract more spectators for any given winning percentage. The financial instability arises from the zero sum nature of the wins within the league. If the large city team wins more often, denoted by L’, this means that the small city team will win less often, denoted by S’. Thus the success of one club will drive the other into the area of loss making (anywhere below TC).Due to the different regulations and restrictions, there is no one-size fits all model, but in the case of European Football, the most influential factor relating to players wages is the motives of the owner. Many high profile clubs in recent times have been criticised for spending endless sums of money to bring in the talent to enable them to win. Perhaps most notably, in the case of Chelsea, Roman Abromav ich total spending has surpassed â‚ ¬1bn [ (Jackson, 2012) ], and Chelsea has consistently reported losses with Abramovich’s sole mission of wanting to win the European Champions League.When looking at Sloane’s model, it could be viewed that in the case of utility maximisation, that Abramovich puts heavy weighting on the winning aspect of the function, with little or no emphasis on profits, and perhaps in this rare example, it could be viewed that he has no have a maximum loss. To overcome this growing trend, UEFA have implemented new rules regarding Financial Fair Play which includes an obligation for clubs, over a period of time, to balance their books or break even.Under the concept, clubs cannot repeatedly spend more than their generated revenues, and clubs will be obliged to meet all their transfer and employee payment commitments at all times† [ (UEFA, 2012) ]. This would be a new factor that needs to be introduced into economic models. Furthermore, it c ould be viewed that the traditional business model of Football clubs is changing, as in the case of David Beckham, the increased merchandise sales realised by Real Madrid and LA Galaxy has meant that they have been able to justify his huge salaries ased on the marginal revenue product that he generates. Some superstars can have huge impacts on franchises total revenue, as described in the superstar effect, and clubs are forced to pay all players huge salaries to prevent underperformance due to pay disparity. Bibliography Ross Jackson. (2012, 02 01). Goal. com. Retrieved from http://www. goal. com/en-gb/news/2896/premier-league/2012/02/01/2879167/roman-abramovichs-chelsea-spending-surpasses-1-billion Depken, C. (2000). Wage disparity and team productivity: evidence from major. Economics Letters 67 . Downward, P. . (2000). The Economics of Professional Team Sports. London: Routledge. European Commission. (2012, 12 02). White Paper on Sport. Retrieved from The Organisation of Sport: ht tp://ec. europa. eu/sport/white-paper/swd-the-organisation-of-sport_en. htm#4_2 Investopedia. (2012, 12 02). Marginal Revenue Product. Retrieved from http://www. investopedia. com/terms/m/marginal-revenue-product-mrp. asp#axzz2Duw8EOwf Leonard, J. H. (1997). Superstars in the NBA. Journal of Labour Economics . R. Sandy, P. S. (2004). The Economics of Sport; An International Perspective.New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Robinsion, T. (2012). The Labour Market for Players Lecture. Manchester. Rosen, S. (1981). The Economics of Superstars. The American Economic Review . Simmons. (1997). Implications of the Bosman Ruling. Economic Affairs , 13-18. Simmons, C. L. (2003). Superstar Effects in Sport : Evidence From Italian Soccer. Journal of Sports Economics . Sloane, P. J. (1971). The Economics of Professional Football: The Football Club As A Utility Maximiser. Scottish Journal of Political Economy . Szymanski, K. &. (1999). Winners and Losers. London: Penguin.

The Long Girl essays

The Long Girl essays Many novels are so successful in selling that producers can't wait to put the story onto the big screen. Most of times, the original novel is way better than the movie because its able to capture and let the reader know the exact emotions of each individual character, and all the symbols and events that happen throughout the book. In the novel the reader is able to use their imagination. This is what the author William Golding was trying to do in the novel "The Lord of the Flies." Overall, the novel is better then the movie because it has better description of the characters feelings, and symbols that has a true meaning in the story. First of all, the classic movie, "The Lord of the Flies," seems to be missing some things involving the characters. I think the reason to this is the time they have for the movie, so the character's role and his true feeling are not real or believable unlike the novel. In the novel, the readers can see how Piggy really feels and that he was being treated as an "Outsider" but, in the film version the audience doesnt clearly see the true feelings of Piggys emotion. Other characters in the movie such as Simon and Roger are so like no there in the movie so it puzzles the viewers because the movie doesnt show their roles. The movie failed in showing Simon as a "Christ" figure and Roger's evil nature. On the other hand, the novel has all these ideas and allows the reader to use their creativity and most of all their imagination. So, since the movie wasnt able to give the audience more information about the characters, their role, and their emotions, the novel is much more effective and ha s more information. Secondly, the novel gives the reader more insight into the story with the authors use of symbols. The novel is able to do this because it in depths the most important messages and serious incidents. For example, Piggy's glasses represent civilization, but once ...

Free Essays on Israelis And Arabs

Both sides claim land in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Moderates suggest splitting of the territory, while extremists want it all. There have been three major Arab-Israeli wars since 1947 when the UN divided the former British mandate of Palestine between its Jewish and Arab populations with Jerusalem as an "international" city. The Arab population rejected that plan. After each was Israel, had extended its boundaries. After the second war - in 1967 - Israel took the West Bank from Jordan and the Gaza Strip from Egypt (who had held them since the 1948 war) and began an illegal program of settlement building in the now occupied territories. Significantly, these were areas that Palestinian refugees had fled to in 1948. The 1967 war had defended Israel against combined Arab armies massed on its borders when its existence appeared to be under threat, but also put a significant Arab population under Israeli rule (in addition to its own Arab citizens). Its rage was demonstrated in the 1980s intifadah against Israeli occupation and continues to feed into the violence. Much of the economic life of the West Bank and Gaza has been suspended since September 2000, exacerbating unemployment and poverty. The conflict has developed its own logic of hate and anger that is responsible for the killing. On the Israeli side, many fear the Palestinians want to drive them into the sea. Palestinians feel besieged by Israel and fear the Jewish state will, if not annex the West Bank and Gaza, deny the right of an economically and politically viable Palestinian state to exist. The United States must radically revise its approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or risk the Middle East sliding further into chaos. Previous approaches to the current violence and to the peace process itself have all been useless: start with a ceasefire, build trust, then come to the hard political issues last. These policies haven’t worked in the war -torn Middle ... Free Essays on Israelis And Arabs Free Essays on Israelis And Arabs Both sides claim land in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Moderates suggest splitting of the territory, while extremists want it all. There have been three major Arab-Israeli wars since 1947 when the UN divided the former British mandate of Palestine between its Jewish and Arab populations with Jerusalem as an "international" city. The Arab population rejected that plan. After each was Israel, had extended its boundaries. After the second war - in 1967 - Israel took the West Bank from Jordan and the Gaza Strip from Egypt (who had held them since the 1948 war) and began an illegal program of settlement building in the now occupied territories. Significantly, these were areas that Palestinian refugees had fled to in 1948. The 1967 war had defended Israel against combined Arab armies massed on its borders when its existence appeared to be under threat, but also put a significant Arab population under Israeli rule (in addition to its own Arab citizens). Its rage was demonstrated in the 1980s intifadah against Israeli occupation and continues to feed into the violence. Much of the economic life of the West Bank and Gaza has been suspended since September 2000, exacerbating unemployment and poverty. The conflict has developed its own logic of hate and anger that is responsible for the killing. On the Israeli side, many fear the Palestinians want to drive them into the sea. Palestinians feel besieged by Israel and fear the Jewish state will, if not annex the West Bank and Gaza, deny the right of an economically and politically viable Palestinian state to exist. The United States must radically revise its approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or risk the Middle East sliding further into chaos. Previous approaches to the current violence and to the peace process itself have all been useless: start with a ceasefire, build trust, then come to the hard political issues last. These policies haven’t worked in the war -torn Middle ... Free Essays on Israelis And Arabs The ideology of the Israelis is different from the Arabs in many ways. They have different views on religion, politics, and the way society should be ran in general. The Arabs and Israelis had several chances to call a truce, but Arabs turned down every chance. In 1948, the UN was going to divide Palestine into two separate states, one Arab and one Jewish, but as soon as the British left the control to them the Arabs proclaimed war against Israel. Even though Israel was proclaimed a state, Arabs refused to accept this. The Arabs believed in communism, but the Israelis chose to set up a democracy, taking ideas from the Western styles of government. Both groups proceeded to attack each other, having a constant fear of one another. This difference in ideology caused some major problems in the Middle East. Israel’s defeat over the Arabs caused self-doubt in many of the other Arab nations. In Egypt, it led to a revolution which over through the monarch. It also saw the rise of many independent groups that looked to the Soviet Union for help. This in turn caused the U.S.A. and Britain to withdraw financial aid for fear about Nasser’s relations with the Soviet Union. All of these accusations led to the Suez Crisis. The Six-Day War soon followed, in which Israeli forces overran the Sinai Peninsula, the Golan Heights on the Syrian border, and East Jerusalem. The Israelis also ignored the decision of the UN that Jerusalem should be an international city by making it their eternal capital. The prospect of there being any kind of lasting peace is not real good. Every time a leader comes forth to negotiate peace, he or she is assonated. Some countries held secret peace talks. In Morocco the Egyptian president Sadat and the Israeli president Begin, surprised the world when they held a conference to negotiate a peace treaty (before they only had secret meetings). This agreement became known as the Camp David Accords. But soon after, the Egypt...

Umer khan Essays - 2nd Millennium, Seven Years War, World History

Umer khan Essays - 2nd Millennium, Seven Years War, World History Umer khan History 7A 3/29/2015 Albany Plan of Union The Albany Congress was a meeting of delegates of seven of the British North American states in 1754 (particularly, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island). Delegates met day by day at Albany, New York from June 19 to July 11 to examine better relations with the Indian tribes and normal guarded measures against the French. They concluded an arrangement with the tribes spoke to, yet the settlement neglected to secure peace with all the Native American tribes amid the French and Indian War. The Congress is prominent for delivering Benjamin Franklin's Albany Plan of Union, an early endeavor to shape a union of the settlements. Some portion of the Plan was utilized as a part of composing the Articles of Confederation, which kept the States together from 1781 until the Constitution Benjamin Franklin proposed an arrangement for joining the seven provinces that extraordinarily surpassed the extent of the congress. In any case, after impressive level headed discussion, and changes proposed by Thomas Hutchinson who might later move toward becoming Governor of Massachusetts, it was passed collectively. The arrangement was submitted as a proposal however was dismisses by both King George II and the lawmaking bodies of the individual seven settlements since it would evacuate some of their current forces. The Seven Years War Frightened by the developing force and aspiration of Frederick the Great, France, Spain, Austria, Saxony, Russia... what's more, Sweden shaped a coalition with the expectation of pulverizing - or possibly devastating - Prussia. Frederick, divining the expectation of the coalition, struck first by attacking Saxony in August 1756, and thumping them out of the war. Britain, officially included I a pioneer struggle with France in North America and India, aligned with Prussia. English arrangement was to take after a Blue Water technique - focus on vanquishing France in pioneer clashes, while supporting Prussia in Europe with huge money endowments, and a little armed force sent to western Germany where it collaborated with the Hanoverian armed force (the lords of Britain were likewise Electors of Hanover) against France. French assets were depleted off fighting in Europe, empowering the British to be effective in their pilgrim battles, winning unequivocally in America and India, and Frederick was capable (just) to fight off the coalition against him, Russia dropping out of the war in 1762 when Catherine the Great progressed toward becoming empress; Sweden additionally dealt with Prussia in 1762. The Treaty of Paris (1763) amongst Britain and France constrained France to surrender every one of its belonging in Canada to Britain and surrender all cases in America east of the Mississippi stream.

Affect of Immagration on Society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Affect of Immagration on Society - Essay Example Other countries like British and France had to compel employers to listen and work with employees to avoid strikes, conflicts and unrests (Howard, 35). The split between two original labour unions (knight of labour and National labour union) in 1888 led to emergence of American Federation of Labour. The coming up of the third labour union was detrimental in addressing labour reforms, because no sooner was it started than the labour reform stopped. This splits it led to a situation where trade union lacked superiority, power, and labour reforms lost its meaning. In 1902 due to racial segregation that had occurred, black and other migrants formed unions to safeguard them from exploitation. This is because they were the majority who were working. Knight of labour then began to decline due to certain factors like lack of skilled workers, and continued rise of power from national governments (Joseph, 680). There were labour gains during the years 1933 to 1945 after certain pieces of legislations were crafted. Some of legislations include the liberal bill on wages and hours to pay and work respectively. Workers, for example, were expected to work for 30 hours a week, and significant rise of salary, but one drawback was lack of minimum wage provision. After suspension of anti-trust laws, the National recovery administration act came into place as a response to ‘black 30 hour bill’ bringing together business owners, and providing them with the opportunity to set maximum, minimum wages, working hours and amount of output to be produced. The aim of the stated union was to create an avenue for fair competition, increased economy and help in employment of workers (Lichtman, 230). Although the National recovery administration act was in place, there were no effort to prevent workers unrest and no work was organized well. The limitation of the act

Draper Manufacturing Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Draper Manufacturing - Case Study Example For instance, when Brent asked Adam Fox about on time shipment of orders, Adam’s reply hinted the dearth of workforce rather than any other issue. Additionally, the company does not enjoy financial stability and growth, but is facing some serious financial, economic and environmental challenges. On the economic front, the increase in the oil price passing the point of $60 per barrel negatively impacts over the cost of the company as the petroleum is a basic raw material component for mattress. Second, the Gulf hurricanes severely damage the TDI, the chemical consumed to develop polyurethane foam. In addition, the Draper manufacturing also faces some competitive challenges from the competitors. In the recent times, there has been growing tendency to import low priced Asian products, which bring more challenges for the company. Â  Company has adopted some measures to reduce its cost burden. This is where the Draper manufacturing really needs put its efforts and try to bring imp rovements in order to meet the business challenges. Workforce diversity is going to be there, and it cannot be termed as a problem for the growth of the company. In conclusion, the Draper manufacturing faces business challenges rather workforce diversity issues.Although there is no doubt that the current workforce working in the company is diverse and belongs to different races, yet the cause of contention between or among them does not represent their personal views over the racial issues but the business issues.

Process Design Matrix Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Process Design Matrix - Coursework Example nsequently, this executive summary will be essential in advocating for varied aspects, which these firms entail to embrace in enhancing performance management for Engineering Support Service as well as Drive socket adapter. In improving the former, aspects that require consideration embrace product line, personal attention to approach and production line. Conversely, Drive socket adapter entail assembly line, batch as well as continuous flow approach. By considering these approaches, they will be of immense significance by firms in understanding, managing as well as enhancing respective process with ease. The focus of this aspect encompasses enhancing performance management, which implies addressing any issue that entail rectification and in regards to employees’ performances. Hence, rectify them in time to be at par with already set guidelines of policies devised to put the firm in an aggressive edge in the market. In realizing this, it encompasses upholding efficiency through employees’ praising and rewarding them based on their realizations. However, the measure of realizations entails effective strategies like each having a performance files (having at least 11-15 machine production lines), which will also be critical when considering their promotions. Mainly, this encompasses firms shunning the traditional fragmented processes that end up taking many resources that could have gone in other purposes. This is only realizable if firm have effective plan for each party besides considering the following, This is more of merging all operators’ intentions or goals towards enhancing quality of the aforementioned socket. Mainly, this is in such way the socket passes through respective assembly departments until the final one whereby afterwards inspection and shipping commences. Hence, ensuring the firm’s productions align with the management’s anticipated goals. Mainly, the appropriate approach encompasses employing â€Å"lean manufacturing process† whose

Human Resource Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 11

Human Resource Management - Essay Example Employees may submit, in writing, any comments or documentation related to their job performance. If a performance review contains a recommendation to refute a salary increase, the supervisor or Chief Executive Officer must give clear and logical action for the employee to follow to get the increment. An employee’s performance must be re-evaluated after six months and, if required, the increment is permissible. Informal reviews may take place throughout the year; however, for any information to be included in the employee’s personnel file, the review must hold a written document read and signed by the employee. Other than the formal review and any informal reviews conducted by employees’ supervisor, the Executive Director can talk about performance with any employee regularly. Such discussions may be followed up by written statement, a copy of which will be placed in the staff member’s file. Health Benefits: The employees are given a choice between HMO (health maintenance organization) and a PPO (preferred provider organization). Also, the Company will bear 80 percent of the cost of medical insurance for employees and their dependents. Dental coverage is also included in the health benefit. The Vision plan is also a part of the health benefit offered by the Company which includes free yearly eye test and an annual allowance for new glasses or contact lenses.   Based on the judgment of the Chief Executive Officer, the Company may top up an employee’s salary while he/she is on short-term disability. The amount of the â€Å"top up† will be one-third of the staff person’s salary at the time of the disability leave. Educational Assistance: The Company also offers financial back up for educational assistance for the employees and his/her immediate family. This entails in-house educational programmes for the employees, scholarships and educational loans for employees’ children. Our Company believes in safeguarding the rights of female

Artificial Artifacts, Like Robots Research Paper

Artificial Artifacts, Like Robots - Research Paper Example These aspects of robots interaction with humans has made man to start considering robots as 'companions', rather than tools or appliances. Those who posses these machines do not seem to settle for a simple solution, but rather continue to invent and improve these machines to resemble human beings. The biggest question at this point, probably, is for how long would or should the human race continue to take this? Does it mean that eventually the robots may end up taking the world away from us? Does it mean that every human problem would eventually start getting robotic solution as time goes by? These are very crucial sentiments that must be addressed sooner rather than later (Tillrch, 2006). Impressively is how the founder of the artificial intelligence John McCarthy attempts to respond to the above question. He clearly puts his opinion on the existence of these robots that resemble human beings as a problem waiting to explode (Tillrch, 2006). ... Marvin's Minsky, another Artificial intelligence pioneer echoes McCarthy's point of view by arguing that in case an individual gets used to order a household robot to do certain things probably he/she may go ahead to command fellow human beings to do such boring, disgusting and unspeakable things that they are used to order the robots to do (Markus, 1991). Therefore, to him, Morality must be instilled in these robots and it must begin with the owners of these machines (Markus, 1991). A close look at many industrial countries and in particular South Korea, then one would be interested to see how the introduction of these human like robots would impact the human race. What concerns us is that we do want to see the introduction of these robots making lives of human beings better and easy; the question is what would be the side effects. For example, the South Korean government is embarking on a mass production of these robots with an aim that by 2020, every household should own one. Toda y, these robots in South Korea work as tourist guides in museums and English teachers in schools. Therefore, from a personal point of view, moral and professional ethics, which include code of conduct, should be introduced to these machines (Markus, 1991). Following a study carried out by Peter. H. Kahn Jr. in the laboratory, the results is that there is a clear relationship between how we reason and behave in relation to continuous interaction with robots. What is true is that there many robots in the market and they are easily available. The robots can cause a tremendous change in behavior with those who interact with them. Therefore, there should be moral values accompanied with their production and

Human Resource Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 11

Human Resource Management - Essay Example Employees may submit, in writing, any comments or documentation related to their job performance. If a performance review contains a recommendation to refute a salary increase, the supervisor or Chief Executive Officer must give clear and logical action for the employee to follow to get the increment. An employee’s performance must be re-evaluated after six months and, if required, the increment is permissible. Informal reviews may take place throughout the year; however, for any information to be included in the employee’s personnel file, the review must hold a written document read and signed by the employee. Other than the formal review and any informal reviews conducted by employees’ supervisor, the Executive Director can talk about performance with any employee regularly. Such discussions may be followed up by written statement, a copy of which will be placed in the staff member’s file. Health Benefits: The employees are given a choice between HMO (health maintenance organization) and a PPO (preferred provider organization). Also, the Company will bear 80 percent of the cost of medical insurance for employees and their dependents. Dental coverage is also included in the health benefit. The Vision plan is also a part of the health benefit offered by the Company which includes free yearly eye test and an annual allowance for new glasses or contact lenses.   Based on the judgment of the Chief Executive Officer, the Company may top up an employee’s salary while he/she is on short-term disability. The amount of the â€Å"top up† will be one-third of the staff person’s salary at the time of the disability leave. Educational Assistance: The Company also offers financial back up for educational assistance for the employees and his/her immediate family. This entails in-house educational programmes for the employees, scholarships and educational loans for employees’ children. Our Company believes in safeguarding the rights of female

Supply chain management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Supply chain management - Essay Example This involves buying the necessary products, and upgrading, recycling, installing, maintaining or replacing them. The effective principle in consumption is to resolve the problems encountered by consumers and for this to be achievable, one must apply proper information about the consumption of a product. The principle provides that one should not put the customer on waiting and this is achievable by removing all barriers, which involve queuing, which may lead to time wasting. It’s further aimed at ensuring that the customer access whatever they need and this obtainable by putting in place measures that are workable, add value to products by applying cost effective measures and it also provide that the goods should be made valuable upon request by consumer and this can be achieved by working closely with the customers. The above principles can be achieved by application of effective consumption, provision and production of products. Since these principles are easy to comprehend and apply then they are compatible with any line of production. How leaders make effectiveness stick To make the efficiency principles to be constant, there is the need for motivation. This can be in the form of rewards such as promotions and bonuses. The efficiency tools and techniques can be used in budgeting and other preparations in order to work well. It is also advisable to keep track of the results. For the lean idea to work, the people working should have positive attitudes and be determined on making it work. This goes a long way in making them focused. This can be done by setting up standards that need to be met and making any necessary developments. There is need for pilot tests to prove that the efforts are beneficial. Therefore, from the above point, it is true to say that implementation of the lean is the determining factor in whether it will stick or not. There is also need for some motivation for the people in order to show them that it can result in good and signif icant change. Application of strategy This has been developed from Toyota’s â€Å"Hoshin Kanri†, being basis of its planning and implementation methods. In this era, the markets demands for very little mistake, emphasizing the necessity of strategizing. It is also wise to approach it in a different manner, which is unique and focuses on entrepreneurship. Having strategies is important in lean as it allows analyzing getting results. This should be focused on making plans, making the problems known and getting solutions to those problems. This can be done through approaches that make the process of adjusting a bit easier. Problems can be either big, which are usually less, medium and small ones which are the most. By breaking the problems down to small pieces to investigate on its nature and analyzing it using the five why analyses, it is possible to gather solutions and the possible and best measures to take. Intuition is also an important aspect to include in the strat egy. The aforementioned gives very detailed ideas on correcting problems in small bits. The

Plate techtonics Essay Example for Free

Plate techtonics Essay The Earth’s crust is composed of numerous plates which are constantly moving in relation to one another. This movement is responsible for earthquakes, volcanoes, and mountain formation and the theory describing this phenomena is called plate tectonics. Plate techtonics was first described in the 1960’s and unified the theories of contenental drift and magnetic field change. The Earth’s interior is divided into three major sections based on their composition: the crust, mantle, and core. The crust is the uppermost portion, and accounts for less than 1% of its volume. It varies in thickness from 2 to 35 miles and it is this layer. Below the crust is a thick layer of rock called the mantle which is nearly 1500 miles thick. The core consists of 15 % of the Earth’s volume and 32% of its mass. It is very dense and is made mostly of iron. Another set of divisions of the Earth’s interior can be made based on mechanical differences and types of heat transfer; the lithosphere and the asthenosphere. The innermost asthenosphere is hotter and fluid-like. The lithosphere is a division made up of the crust and the uppermost part of the mantle. It is cool and rigid and is broken up into seven major and many minor techtonic plates. These plates move in relation to one another at one of three types of plate boundaries: convergent or collision boundaries, divergent or spreading boundaries, and transform boundaries. Most of the worlds active volcanoes occur along plate boundaries. The major plates are African Plate, Antarctic Plate, Arabian Plate, Australian Plate, Caribbean Plate, Cocos Plate, Eurasian Plate, Indian Plate, Juan de Fuca Plate, Nazca Plate, North American Plate, Pacific Plate, Philippine Plate, Scotia Plate, and the South American Plate. There are also many minor plates throughout the world.   As techtonic plates move, they interact with each other and create friction, pressure and/or strain. Stress builds up in both plates and when it reaches a level that exceeds the threshold of rocks on either side of the fault, this accumulated potential energy is released. The brittle upper crust reacts by fracture, or instantaneous stress release to allow motion along the fault. Energy released in this way is the cause of earthquakes which are commonly found along transform boundaries. The San Andreas Fault along the western coast of North America is a well known transform boundary. Here, the Pacific and North American plates meet and move against each other. Other examples of transform faults include the Alpine Fault in New Zealand and the North Anatolian Fault in Turkey. Mendocino Fracture Zone offshore northern California). Divergent boundaries consist of two plates that move apart from each other. When this occurs, a space is created and fills with molten magma. Spreading is not usually uniform and can create massive fault zones. Divergent boundaries are common in the sea floor and are the cause of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the East Pacific Rise. Convergent boundary action depends on the density of the plates that are colliding. Oceanic plates tend to be more dense, with a higher percentage of heavy elements. When a dense oceanic plate collides with a less-dense continental plate, the oceanic plate is typically thrust underneath. This forms a subduction zone and is responsible for oceanic trenches and mountain ranges. An example of a continental-oceanic subduction zone is the area along the western coast of South America where the oceanic Nazca Plate is being subducted beneath the continental South American Plate. Another phenomenon that occurs as the subducting plate descends is a rise in temperature as hot water that has been encased in the porous oceanic crust is released. As the water rises into the mantle of the overriding plate, it lowers the melting temperature of the surrounding mantle, producing â€Å"melts† (magma). These melts rise to the surface and are the source of some of the most explosive volcanism on Earth because of their high volumes of extremely pressurized gases. Mount St. Helens was formed in this way. As these melts rise to the surface and cool, they form long chains of volcanoes inland from the continental shelf and parallel to it. South America is dense with this type of volcanic mountain building from the subduction of the Nazca plate. In North America the Cascade mountain range, extending north from Californias Sierra Nevada, is also of this type. The entire Pacific Ocean boundary is surrounded by long stretches of volcanoes and is known collectively as The Ring of Fire which are the most active volcanoes in the world. When two continental plates collide, they will buckle and compress or one plate goes under the other creating mountain ranges. Currently, the northern margin of the Indian plate is being pushed under the Eurasian plate, and is creating the Himalayan Mountains. When two plates with oceanic crust collide, they typically create an island of volcanoes that erupt through the overriding plate. Japan and the Aleutian Islands were formed in this way. The world is constantly changing and the occurrence of natural disasters is a constant threat. Life in a high risk location may be uncertain, but many people have chosen to live near these potentially dangerous areas for reasons that they feel outweigh the risk. Choice is part of our rights as a human being, and we each must educate ourselves as to our environmental risks and weigh our priorities to make the decisions that are right for each of us. Our awareness of plate techtonics can allow us to assess our future risks. Not allowing people to live in high risk areas would remove their choices over their own lives.

Functions and Elements of Self Organising Networks

Functions and Elements of Self Organising Networks CHAPTER 1 In this chapter I will be discussing about the main functions of SON, its components, elements and how does it atomizes the whole LTE network infrastructure. I have organised this chapter in the following way and will explain each of the component respectively. OAM Automatic Configuration Features Neighbour Relation Automatic Neighbour Relation management Connectivity Management Self Test Automatic Inventory So, lets get started with the detain explanation, description and working of the OAM system first. 1OAM (Operation, Administration and Management) 1.1Introduction OAM stands for Operation, Administration and Management systems. As we have discussed in the earlier chapters that most of the network operations today is controlled and managed by a central entity which is known as the OAM system. Mainly in a centralized system architecture all the Self-Configuration, Self-Optimization and Self-Healing operations are controlled through the OAM system. In the next paragraph a brief description of what functions does the Operation, Administration and Management system take care of is explained. Operations system deals in both the administration and management systems. It is basically a centralized control structure which keeps coordination between both the other systems. Administration system as it stands control all the administrative tasks like networks design, assignment of addresses, keeping network up to date and other administrative functions. And lastly the Maintenance system maintains and keeps the network running through keeping check of all the elements, executing appropriate diagnostic functions, monitoring network and resetting the components or whole network if required. All these components work parallel to keep the network in operational state. 1.2Architecture For any network to operate optimally it is very necessary to keep check on all the elements. The operator of network should have a system through which he can make sure that there is no fault and network is running normally. In the figure 1.1 below a high level OAM architecture architecture is represented. OAM Architecture Fig1.1 As it is clear through fig 1.1 that OAM has further devided management layers and provided dedicated servers to each management layer to deal with its functions. All the management servers serves their corresponding nodes layer by layer to perform the management tasks. Network protocols has been defined at each interface onto the Network Element or end user for execution of effortless management functions. Though the architecture diagram we can conclude two main logical functions that devides the OAM according to their functions and roles. These functions are given below, Network Management function Element Management function Mainly in the network managements systems, OAM is addressed as the entity which controls, maintains and configures the network. The term OAM is used in the 3GPP documentation for the network management functions. As five main sub-functions of Network Management Systems are derived from the main functions of OAM and hence NMS is also reffered as the OAM systems in many contexts. OAM when demand lot of provisonal functions then it is known as the OAMP, P stands for provision in this situation. The functional elements of Network Management System is given in the figure 1.2 below. Fig 1.2 In the next part I will be discussing two very important management functions related to the OAM architecture and those are as follows, 1.3Element Management System (EMS) As we know network element is an entity composed of the physical hardware. Processes and executions are performed on those physical devices to provide service the users. Therefore, a management technique to manage these elements of the network is known as the Element Management System. The management system a very broad topic but I will keep focus on the main components which integrates with the SON technique for the optimization of cellular networks. As we can see in the fig 1.1 the Network management system collects all the data from EMS and EMS gathers all useful measurements for the NE respectively. The difference is NMS mainly execute the aggregated measurements from NEs to accomplish required functions but EMS works on individual NE at a time. Below is the high-level architecture of the EMS and the components it interacts with. Fig 1.2 Furthermore, I would give a brief description of the components shown in the fig 1.2 above. The EMS connects to the NMS server to provide all the collected and aggregated information or measurement from the network elements. NMS makes decisions based on these collected data from EMS. The client is used to show or present the data to user with a user friendly graphic user interface. The operator can login through the client to configure and maintain network when needed. The database function is to store all the usable measurements and information. These measurements are used when a fault occurs in the Network Element. Evaluating and comparing the network performances with these measurements give a complete sight of what might be causing the errors in the network. And the last component which is the Network Element is same we have discussed earlier, a physical device used to execute all the processes and functions. A question that arises here is that the network elements can be managed and configured through accessing the devices itself so why do we need a central Element Management System? Therefore, the need of this management function is explained as follows. 1.3.1Requirement of EMS Network are getting very complex as new functionalities and services are added very frequently. And with that, new vendors and service providers are introducing themselves in market. As the network size is enhancing the operations at the network element end is also increasing. This operation management demands high cost and effort. Therefore, to minimize the cost, effort and a centralized solution to manage the networks were provided by the 3GPP. An appropriate and user-friendly interface is very vital to perform and manage managerial tasks with ease. Some main issues which the operators of telecom companies were facing are described in the next paragraph. Firstly, Due to the development of fresh network elements and services there was a need to provision diverse elements from different vendors. For example, even in a single network GSM, UMTS and LTE can work side by side therefore a management system was required which can gather all the data from all the network elements. Secondly, the complexity issues were raising as of now many multiple functionalities are merging into one single functionality which makes the network complex. And lastly but the most important is the cost. The cost associated in dealing with each element individually was very high, therefore to manage complete network and its services remotely and through a central entity which has all the data and measurements from all the network elements can reduce huge costs. Progressing through EMS now I will explain the functions and services EMS provides to the network and how it interacts with its upper layer that is the Network Management System. 1.3.2Functions of EMS Element Management System basically manages the base stations that is eNodeBs in the LTE network architecture in accordance with SON. The main functions which EMS features while managing the network elements are given below. 1.3.2.1Provisioning and Installation of NE When a base station that is eNodeB is connected to a power station but not yet configured and basic setup is not initiated, eNodeBs at this point needs to connect to the network to perform basic functions. So, the Self-Configuration function of SON is initiated to make a connection, eNodeB for connectivity requires an IP-address and OAM support to start functionating. For obtaining basic configuration and parameter settings the eNodeB connects to the OAM system. Now the EMS element in the OAM must provision, support and provide these basic configuration settings to the eNodeB. The EMS checks is they can provide the service base station is asking for. The inventory management server is checked for this purpose. Once the resources are available and identified the configurations are uploaded onto the base stations and correct parameters are set up. At this point the network elements are ready to be interconnected with the network and start functioning. This technique is used in the Self-Configuration function of SON for the basic connectivity with the network. Furthermore, this function of EMS also maintains the backup and restore points for the network element. Downloading, installing the patches and newly updated software on the eNodeBs are handled by the EM system too. The inventory system database in the EM system contains all the required parameter settings used by the eNodeBs for the self-configuration and auto-connectivity once powered on. Every element in the modern telecom services are automated through SON and a technician is only needed when something couldnt be resolved automatically. At that point the engineer or operator just login through the EMS graphical user interface and handles all the faults and errors with ease. 1.3.2.2Managing User terminals and maintaining QOS In a wide scale network, there are thousand of base stations and thousands of user-equipment are connected to these base stations. Therefore, to manage this big network is not easy at the operators end. The capital expenditure to deploy base stations and then the operational expenditure to maintain each single base station requires huge amount of cost and with cost excessive human effort is required to maintain base stations. Therefore, EM system manages these user terminals by gathering the statistics of all the users cell through cell and saves these measurements into the database. So, the message status between the base station and UE are attained in the shape of statistical reports. The vital data collected in these statistics are given below, All the successful calls. All the failed calls. Dropped calls. Successful HOs. Failed HOs. The traffic capacity that is throughput. By gaining all these important statistics from the network the EM system analyzes and makes appropriate decisions when needed. Not only this but EMS uses these measurements to maintain the Quality of Service too. 1.3.2.3Network Support Network support mainly aims in the activities related to the maintenance of the network. And as discussed earlier operators goal is to decrease the cost as much as they can. As much the network is well managed and well driven the cost will decrease. So, quality of management systems is inversely proportion to the cost. With the cost, there is one more concern that operators are facing and that is the lack of professional technicians. And both concerns can be mitigated through the automatic solutions. Therefore, automatic network systems reduce human intervention and cuts the cost too. And for the support of network automatically EMS functionalities are evolved. Main functionality that EMS provides for the network support are given below. Debugging and resolving software issues such as bugs and errors. EMS provides a method to automatically resolve these errors remotely. All the security statistics are handled by EMS which the network requires to handle and secure vital information and data. All the network faults and issues at the element level are mitigated through the EMS. As Network management system deals with the combined data and information from several network elements. But the EMS takes charge and record of each Element individually. And lastly EMS allows operators to login to the specific node for the purpose of upgradation or changing parameters. The operator does not have to go physically to the base station and login through its internal interface. 1.3.2.4Monitoring of Networks The monitoring of networks is mainly done on the Network Management System but some of its function is executed on the EMS. EMS supports the NMS through some of its functionalities for the monitoring and control. First, we need to understand that monitoring of networks is executed on NMS and portions of these functions are performed on the EMS level. The EMS layer is below the NMS layer and therefore it provides major feeds to the layers above it. The monitoring systems main tasks which optimizes the network are given in the figure 1.3 below. Fig 1.3 The 3GPP defines standards of OAM with very classified specification. And it is very clear that the OAM specification gives ease in implementing the management system for the network. There are other network management specifications like TMF but the 3GPP specification about the OAM is very broad and revolves around some specific function or technology. The specifications, standards, specifications and how does 3GPP uses SON to optimize networks are explained in the last chapter of this paper that is 3GPP specifications and its interaction with SON. 1.4Network Management System (NMS) The network management system in the OAM architecture is capable of managing the complete network in a combined method that is, managing of radio transmissions, core networks and the base stations. NMS manages all these entities on one single platform. And due to the capability of managing everything on one single node the cost and human effort is decreased exponentially. There is a term used in the management system called FCPS which stands for Fault, Configuration, Performance and Security Management. And this function works on all the layers of the OAM model. On every layer, it has different function but the general explanation of FCPS is explained in the last portion of this topic. Basically, how NMS functions is explained in the example below, Lets consider there is a fault detected on the NE. Because whenever an event occurs network element generates a log which notifies EMS of the event occurrence. EMS would collect these statistics from the NE. Now NMS responsibility is to tackle the issue and take corrective measures. To accomplish these goals NMS correlates the statistics from different NE and different events, this technique helps the NMS to discover the issue or fault by comparing different statistics. A real-time example of NMS working could be of a disconnection scenario between a base station and the media gateway. Logs and stats screening the connection lost will be generated on the elements of both base stations and the MGW. As base station and MGW are two different network elements and EMS always record the stats of specific network element individually. So, it might collect the stats from the base station or the MGW, but the Network Management System at this point records data from both the elements and then correlate them. Therefore, in the scenarios defined above the stats and logs from base station and MGW can be analyzed together which makes the work on NMS level easy to find the actual problem in the network. And when the problem is diagnosed NMS takes the proper corrective measure to mitigate the issue which EMS can not do by just gathering the logs of one network element. This is a case specific function of how NMS tackles the issues. The other functions and activities NMS performs to optimize the network are given in the next section. 1.4.1Activities performed by NMS All the main activities that the NMS performs prior to any maintenance instructions or corrective measures are given below. Learn about all the elements available in the network. It works in two ways, manual discovery which is done by the operator and the second is automatic element discovery. In an auto discovery mode, this management system automatically discovers and identifies all the network elements and assign IPs to the particular element which requires it. The manual discovery is executed by the operator and manage the network elements that is assign IP addresses to the elements and discover all the elements in the network through the application menu. Gathering all the faulty data. The reason this activity is scheduled to be executed after the network elements discovery is to associate the faulty information with the specific element and components which are causing the error. In the NMS software, all the discovered elements form a tree type structure and hence associating the correct statistics with the corresponding element assists in debugging the fault. Collecting all the performance statistics and data. The faulty data discussed above is sent to the NMS only when they arise but on the other hand the performance logs and stats are stored in the files of network element itself. And these stats are downloaded on the NMS from the NE at the periodic intervals. User Authentications. All the internal user in the NMS needs to be authenticated for the security reasons. There are commands in NMS which can collapse the vital network components which can cause affect on whole network therefore, robust security needs to be implemented on the NMS. Collecting other configurations and data. The last activity executed by the NMS prior to start managing and maintenance of the networkall the other statistics and configurations in the element required in the NMS to execute any function is also collected from the NE. So, when all the elements are discovered and prerequisite activities have been executed successfully the NMS is the all set for the management and maintenance tasks of the network. These functions, maintenance, corrective measures, fault detection etc. are performed by analyzing the earlier collected data from the NE. Main functions of the NMS includes outlining the flow of information, provisioning of network, troubleshooting, configured elements maintenance, making appropriate decisions for the optimal utilization of resources etc. The problem which sometimes arises is the parameter or configuration changes in the network elements. These changes must be updated on the NMS so that it can find an appropriate solution when required. Therefore, network elements are rediscovered at periodic intervals so that the most current statistics and data could be known to the EMS. The next section would comprise of the NMS general architecture and the components which reside in the NMS. Description and explanation of these components are also given in the section below. 1.4.2NMS Architecture

The Internet :: essays research papers

The Internet The Internet is a wide-open arena for public discussion and interaction that needs to be regulated; protective rules, including censorship if necessary, must be instituted to ensure that this environment is kept hospitable to all. Recently a month ago, I got hooked up to America Online (AOL). I agree that the Internet is a wide-open arena for public discussion and interaction but, I disagree that it needs to be regulated. The Internet is a place where anything can occur. It is just like talking to someone on the phone; instead you are typing to them. You can have a conversation about anything you want to talk about. It doesn't need protective rules or censorship. If it gets censorship then it will be taking away our freedom of speech. Everybody has the right to say whatever they want. That's what they are doing on the Internet. When I am logged onto AOL, I sometimes go into a chat room. In the chat room you meet people form all over the world. In there sometimes there is some profanity used. People also say stuff that might offend you right away. This has happened to me. One night, when I was in a chat room, the room went into a conversation about relationships. We were all talking about previous boyfriends and girlfriends: how many, names and ages. Some girl that I didn't even know told them, "Garrett32† (my screen name) had 100 girlfriends by the time I was 18. â€Å"Love’em and leave’em.† â€Å"He is a jerk." My immediate reaction was to curse the girl out but, I didn't. I just left the chat room. That was the best thing I could have done. If I had cursed her out he probably would have notified AOL. Nobody told me that I had to sit there and listen to what she was saying. If I had stayed and listened to her then that would have been my fault. I would have been the one staying there to get the abuse. America Online gives you the option to notify them if someone said something inappropriately or not to your liking. They check on the problem to see what really happened. If it is true that person's account is canceled. That is a good way of keeping the Internet hospitable. I think that someone should go on line only if they are able to put up with all the things that occur on it. If someone isn't then they shouldn't be online. I am not saying that everything that occurs on line it all right, but you can't get offended about everything.

The Task :: essays research papers

It was a quiet afternoon so crudely interrupted by a knock at the door. A messenger had come with a letter. I took the letter and began reading. It was from my father. The old man was ill and had requested my immediate presence. I gathered my things and mounted my best horse.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I arrived at my fathers house before nightfall and was let in by one of his illustrious maids. Her name was Margarette`. She had been tending to my father for many years now. A tall, young lady yet always bleak and deteriorating. She led me strait to his chamber which was filled with the aroma of medicines and ails. The physician was also present as were a few maids. Upon seeing my arrival the old man made a weak attempt to sit up, coughing as though his lungs were filled with smoke from a thousand chimneys, and motioned for me to come closer. It was painful for me to see my once strong, cunning and seemingly invincible father in this state. In his youth, his strength had equaled ten men but now he had been reduced to a thin and withering, pale, old man. I greeted him warmly, hiding my true feelings of disgust and immorality.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  My father instructed all to leave us and began talk of death nearing him. My father was not a poor man and had said to be leaving a greater portion of his wealth to me and the rest being divided amongst the maids and my sister who after marriage had moved to Spain. However before the fortune was upon me I would have to complete a task—to kill the one man who had wronged my father. The old man instructed me to take a key from his neck and open his personal drawer with it. From there I would take his prized dagger and use it to slay my fathers adversary. The jewel was wrapped in fine cloth and was not to be opened until I face my enemy in combat. My father spoke of great evil that was in the heart of this beast and only that dagger which had been soaked in his own blood could destroy him. He bid me be careful and keen with my task as this man wore a mask of kindness that I should not fall under.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Automatically I dispersed my fathers warnings, questioning his sanity and left to retire before my journey.