Buad 310 Case Analysis Instruction

BUAD 310 Spring 2013 Case Due by 4PM on Friday, May 3rd (in BRI 400C) In this case you will apply statistical techniques learned in the Regression part of BUAD 310. Please read the following instructions carefully before you start: †¢ This assignment uses data from the file MagAds13S. XLS, which you can download from Blackboard. After you download the file go to Data > Load data > from file in StatCrunch to open it (you don’t need to change any of the options when loading this data. ) †¢ The entire report should be typed and clearly presented without typos and grammatical errors.Copy and paste the relevant (explained further in more detail) regression output into your document. Do not attach any graphs. †¢ You are encouraged to work in groups (maximum size is 5). Any group submits only one report, in which the first page should have all the names and USC ID of the group members. A hard copy of the report needs to be submitted (an electronic copy is NOT acceptabl e). Before May 3rd, you can also hand in the report during class. When I am not in my office (BRI 400C), please drop the report in the office through the gap between the door and floor. Very important: present the problems in exactly the same order as they are listed. †¢ A note to Mac user: you might need to hold â€Å"shift† when selecting variables for the X-variables with multiple linear regression in StatCrunch. Magazine Advertising What factors influence the price of advertisements in magazines? Suppose you are part of a team of consultants hired by a retail clothing company wishing to place advertisements in at least one magazine. They are curious about what types of costs they can expect for magazines with different readership bases so they most effectively utilize their advertising budget.Your team has collected cost data on 44 consumer magazines. In addition, your team has measured some other characteristics of the magazines and their audiences that may be usefu l in understanding the advertisement costs better. The variables are as follows, pagecost: Cost of a four-color, one-page ad (in dollars) circ: Circulation (projected, in thousands) percmale: Percent male among the predicted readership medianincome: Median household income of readership (in dollars) Some natural logarithms of the variables are also provided for your convenience.Your goal is to analyze the data with StatCrunch using Multiple Linear Regression methods and choose the best model to explain the differences in advertising costs between the different titles, and then to predict what the retail clothing company should expect to pay for advertising in the different magazines. Answer the following questions (with reasonable detail, not just â€Å"yes† or â€Å"no†, use one or two sentences per question). 1. Visually examine the scatter plots of the response variable, pagecost, versus each of the explanatory variables (circ, percmale, medianincome).In StatCrunch you can go to [Graphics( Scatter Plot] to do each plot. Describe the form and the direction of each relationship. Do not attach any graphs. 2. Perform a Regression analysis to predict pagecost using all three explanatory variables [Stat ( Regression ( Multiple Linear, then fill in the proper Response and Predictor variables, then click Next twice and under Save options select Residuals, Predicted values and 95% interval for either the mean or an individual (you will have to decide which one you need for part d! ). For he CI (or PI) to be produced you need to enter the values from part d in the row underneath the data table, in appropriate columns. Note that the value for circ has to be entered in the same units as all the values in the circ column. To produce a residual plot do a Scatter plot as in question 1, selecting Residuals as the Y variable and Predicted values as the X variable]. Include the regression output, but not the plot. a. Use the R-squared and the F-test to comment on the usefulness of the regression model you fitted (use the significance level of 5% for the test). b.Evaluate the regression assumptions by assessing the residual plot. c. Examine each of the explanatory variables individually to determine which are contributing significantly to the model. (Use the significance level of 5 %. Do NOT actually eliminate any variables from the regression at this stage. ) d. Using the same model with all the variables, provide an appropriate 95%-level interval to the retail clothing company for the amount that they would pay for a full-page ad in a magazine with a projected audience of 2,000,000 readers, 55 percent of which are male, with a median income of $30,000.Explain in one sentence and in simple terms what this interval means. 3. Rerun the regression in part 2 with circ replaced by LN_circ (the natural logarithm of the variable circ), keeping all the other variables the same. Include the relevant regression output (only the coefficient and ANOV A tables). [Stat ( Regression ( Multiple Linear, then fill in the proper Response and Predictor variables, then click Next twice and under Save options select Residuals and Predicted values. Produce a residual plot the same way as in question 2]. a.How does this model compare to the previous model using R-squared? Explain what this difference in the R-squared values means in simple terms. b. Evaluate the regression assumptions by assessing the residual plot. c. Examine each of the independent variables individually to determine which are contributing significantly to the newest model. (Use the significance level of 5 %. Do NOT actually eliminate any variables from the regression at this stage. ) 4. Rerun the regression in part 3 with LN_pagecost (the natural logarithm of pagecost) as the response (i. . the explanatory variables are LN_circ, percmale and medianincome). Include the regression output. [Stat ( Regression ( Multiple Linear, then fill in the proper Response and Predictor variables, then click Next twice and under Save options select Residuals, Predicted values and 95% interval for either the mean or an individual (you will have to decide which one you need for part d! ). For the CI (or PI) to be produced you need to enter the values from part d in the row underneath the data table, in appropriate columns.Note that the value for LN_circ has to be entered in the same units as all the values in the LN_circ column. Also note that the interval will be produced for the LN_pagecost variable. To produce a residual plot do a Scatter plot as in question 1, selecting Residuals as the Y variable and Predicted values as the X variable]. a. Evaluate the regression assumptions by assessing the residual plot. b. Examine each of the explanatory variables individually to determine which are contributing significantly to the new model. Use a significance level of 5%. . Remove the variables you find insignificant and re-run the model. Include the regression output for the new model. d. Using the new model, provide an appropriate 95% -level interval to the retail clothing company for the amount they would pay for a full-page ad in a magazine with the values given in 2. d (projected audience of 2,000,000 readers, 55 percent of which are male, with a median income of $30,000) using the newest model. Explain in one sentence and in simple terms what this interval means. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: (roughly about ? to 1 page)You are given the task of summarizing your findings for the board of directors of the retail clothing company. Since they are not very well-versed in regression techniques, you will need to explain things in easy-to-understand, simple and practical terms. Make sure to answer the following questions within the summary: 1. Describe each of the models you considered in parts 2-4 and how these models estimate the relationship between the cost of one-page ad and each of the explanatory variables (for each of the models you will need about one se ntence per explanatory variable). . Specify which model you would recommend to best forecast the cost of one-page advertisements. Explain why this model should work well and why you picked this particular model from the ones you tried (go over the positives you see for this model and the negatives for the other models). †¢ Reminder: include only the relevant regression output in your final document. Do not attach or include any graphs.

Operating System Security Flaws Essay

As basic users, security is one feature that most of us overlook when it comes to operating systems until it is too late. In this paper we will discuss the security flaws within the Windows Operating system, and then discuss countermeasures to fix the system flaw. We will first look at some known flaws in Windows 7 and Windows 8. An Information Security Engineer at Google had decided to reveal a flaw that affected two of Microsoft’s newest operating systems that allowed attackers to obtain higher privileges on an unpatched computer. The vulnerability was caused due to an error within the ‘win32k.sys’ when it processes certain objects and it can be exploited to cause a crash or perform arbitrary code with kernel privilege. A more recent flaw in Windows has been identified as the Zero-Day Vulnerability; the Microsoft Windows Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) package manager remote code execution vulnerability (CVE-2014-4114) permits attackers to embed OLE files fro m external locations. CVE-2014-4114 flaw can be exploited to download and install malware on to the target’s computer. This vulnerability affects all versions of Windows to include; Windows Vista Service Pack 2, Windows 8.1 and Windows Server versions 2008 and 2012. The Microsoft technology allows rich data from one document to be embedded in another document or link to a document. The OLE is usually used for embedding locally stored content but this flaw allows the unprompted download and execution of external files. The attackers send the targeted individuals or corporations a spear-phishing email that contains a malicious PowerPoint (PPT) file attachment; this email is detected by Symantec as Trojan.Mdropper. The sent file contains two embedded OLE documents containing URLs. If the targeted individual opens the PPT file, the URLs are contacted and two files are downloaded which in turn will install the malware on the computer. When the malware is installed on the victim’s  computer, this creates a back door that allows the attackers to download and install other malware; the malware can a lso download updates for itself to include an information stealing component. Microsoft is advising customers that there is no patch currently available for this vulnerability; they have supplied a fixit tool that decreases the attacks. While the present exploits are using PowerPoint files to deliver the malware, given the type of flaw, they may start using different office files such as word documents or excel spreadsheets. The second zero-day vulnerability is CVE-2014-4113, which is a local elevation of privilege vulnerability; this flaw has been seen in attacks against Windows Server 2003/R2, 2008/R2, Windows 2000, Windows Vista and Windows XP SP3. This flaw cannot be used on its own to compromise a victim’s security. The attacker would need to gain access to a remote system running any of the above lists operating systems before they could execute code within the context of the Windows Kernel. (â€Å"Sandworm Windows Zero-Day Vulnerability Being Actively Exploited In Targeted Attacks†, 2014). Microsoft’s security advisory states the company is vigorously working to provide broader protections to their customers; the company states that the resolution of the issue may include providing a security update through a monthly patch update or providing an unscheduled security update. As stated above Microsoft issued a temporary fixit tool that can be applied to 32-64 bit versions of PowerPoint 2007, 2010 and 2013. This can be used until an official patch is released. Also another countermeasure to avoid downloading malware on to your operating system is not open any PowerPoint Presentations or documents from unknown parties, even mail from known addresses should be avoided unless you can confirm with the sender that the email was intentionally sent. Many emails are compromised because some individuals make their passwords to easy or they have downloaded spyware and the attacker gets that information and uses their email to send out their virus to other users. I have received emails from my mother when I didn’t expect them and I would inform her that her email had been hacked. Many are not aware that this has happened unless they are told, References: Google Engineer Finds Critical Windows 7 / 8 Security Flaw. (2001-2014). Retrieved from http://news.softpedia.com/news/Google-Engineer-Finds-Critical-Windows-7-8-Security-Flaw-355406.shtml Sandworm Windows zero-day vulnerability being actively exploited in targeted attacks. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.symantec.com/connect/blogs/sandworm-windows-zero-day-vulnerability-being-actively-exploited-targeted-attacks

Early African Art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Early African Art - Essay Example ed from either wood or other organic materials, these sculptures were a reflection of certain societal issues, which includes and not limited to the deities. In this relation, this paper considers the following collection of the African Arts; Of all the continents, Africa is one that is much infested with the art of rock painting than all the continents that constitute the world. In addition, rock painting in Africa remains not only the oldest but also one that has been continuously been practiced through generations. Among the features that are shown in the Africans rock painting includes human figures, animals, and a combination of the animals and futures that are related to human beings. These features were collectively referred to as therianthropes normally associated with the shamanism (Abiodun, Henry, and John, 88). The African rock painting can be categorized in three domains, the southern, central, and the northern. The demarcation considers the regional and the similarity in the trend of the rock painting. It is urged that the rock painting of the three domains indicate reasonable degree of resemblance that even untrained eyes would find it easy to recognize and differentiate. It is worth noting that not all the rock painting demonstrates pre-historical existence since most of the rock painting thrived in the nineteenth century and continues to grow today. In South Africa, Drakensberg, the roc painting in the areas simply depicted the confrontation between the European and the San who were considered the Bushmen. The paintings mostly demonstrate the European solders riding o horses and rifles hanging on their shoulders. In is interesting to note that some of the paintings demonstrates three dimensional using a special painting material called the polychrome shading (Bodrogi, 67). What is considered the southern zone in the African rock painting stretches from Cape Town in South Africa and cuts right through Zimbabwe and the Zambezi River in Zambia. The

Film Analysis and Breakdown Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Film Analysis and Breakdown - Essay Example The long shots zoom in and out of the various people in the clip, enabling the viewer to see their facial features and the emotions that they exhibit. Shot 3: Sound: The soundtrack was infamous Jazz music common to the New Orleans area, with no talking, to contrast the irony between the Big Easy of old, and the reality of the destruction facing the area today. Shot 4: Image: The Depth of Field was quite wide as the director was trying to capsulate the mood of the time and the breadth of emotion that the film was designed to attract. The camera angle casts a wide panoramic view of the destruction left in the aftermath of the hurricane. Images are quite horrific as we see the sheer volume of water the descending upon the region. Shot 5: Sound: There was no narration in this shot; rather, only music was employed as a means to draw in the viewer to the message of the film. The music depicts the heart and sole of the region, while the images in this shot cast a different tone. Shot 6: Ima ge: Finally, in this shot, we notice a diegetic sound as we are left with a vision of what the destruction must have felt like and the voices of the people as they realized what had become of their lives. Part Two: Individual Analysis When the Levees Broke is a documentary film developed to contrast the two images we have of the Gulf region. On the one had, we have an area that is fun-loving and associated with a party type atmosphere. Gaining the nickname ‘The Big Easy’, we have visions of Jazz music, racial diversity, coupled with racial divisions. This understanding is contrasted with the destruction experienced during Hurricane Katrina, the feeling of despair and neglect that was felt, and the seemingly hopeless feeling that the people had and continue to have to this day. This emotion is all bought out in the very first sequence of the film. The sequence I chose is the very opening footage of the movie. I chose this sequence because the message portrayed in the ope ning six shots contains the heart and the purpose behind the documentary. The filming is a spectacular mix of close up and panoramic shots that encapsulate life before and after the Hurricane. No shot is wasted during the opening sequence, as the view is taken on a journey through two different time periods. Documentaries are often designed to elicit emotion and to tell a story. This opening sequence certainly accomplishes this aim. In shots one and two, while there is nothing spoken, the music tells the story. There are great editing features employed here that cut between the massive flooding that occurred when the levees broke, yet we are then cut back to an earlier time when the area was beautiful and life was good. Shots three through five employ an editing technique that provides us with a comparison and contrast that make the film effective in communicating its intended message. The camera in these shots cut to close ups of people in various states. After the hurricane, the i mages are horrific and the viewer can feel the pain. During the cuts to an earlier time, that is contrasted with images of excitement and a better time. These shots give us a picture of the before and after of the Gulf Region and set the tone for the rest of the film. The music itself appears to be carefully chosen as well. Rather than shifting its message and tone, the jazz played during the opening sequence is a consistent representation and reminder of what the Gulf Region was, and hopes to once again become.

Environment, soil survey and land suitability assessment for Coursework

Environment, soil survey and land suitability assessment for conservation management - Coursework Example Center of discussion in this paper is a land-use as a kind of land use which is described in terms of its products as well as management practices. For efficient reconnaissance surveys being conducted at the national levels, highly generalized descriptions may be adequate i.e. â€Å"wildlife habitat†, â€Å"forestry conservation†. At district as well as lower levels, it is vital to specify the use in more details. Such descriptions usually serve two purposes. First they are the basis of determining the requirements for use. Secondly, the management specifications can be used as the basis for the extension services as well as the planning for the necessary inputs. The particular land use requirements are usually illustrated by the land qualities required for the sustained production. A land quality is a very complex attribute of land which usually has a direct effect on the land use. The various examples are the availability of water, nutrients, rooting conditions and er osion hazards. Most of the given lands qualities are determined by the interaction of the several land characteristics as well as measurable attributes of a land. For example, the quality â€Å"availability of water† is usually determined by the potential balance between the water demand as well as the water supply. The water demand is the potential evaporation from the surface of the crop as well as the soil whereas the water supply is determined by the rainfall, infiltration, water storage in the soil and the ability of the grassland to extract the stored water. After selection of the relevant land qualities, it is vital to decide which particular land characteristics are to be used for measuring them. For instance, the quality â€Å"erosion hazard† demands information on rainfall intensity, slope angle as well as soil properties. A compromise is then reached between the characteristics that most define the given land quality with those that are less precise. Land evaluation can also at times be conducted directly in terms of the land characteristics i.e. by using rainfall as opposed to water availability, slope angle instead of erosion hazards. Despite the above, the following are the land suitability constraints that are imposed by the interaction of the soil, climate, topographic, hydrological as well as the geological factors. Mapping of land units and their characteristics The land is first identified as a basis for diagnosis of problems. The given units are then mapped into more details i.e. by dividing the land

The Harlem Renaissance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Harlem Renaissance - Essay Example The Renaissance is considered to have started in 1919 and existed until the mid or early 1930s.The influence of the Renaissance was felt on a scale larger than the United States as it is credited with having impacted on black writers from colonies in the Caribbean and Africa, that were French-speaking and living in Paris. The ideas and beliefs of the movement lived on for a long time after the movement ceased to exist. Majorities of African-Americans who were enslaved and lived in the agrarian south of the United States up to the end of the Civil War. After the civil war, the slaves were free to move and do as they pleased. The African-Americans started striving for political equality, participation in civic positions and self-determination in cultural and economic fields. Black congressional representatives made speeches that addressed the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 and reprimanded the bill. This necessitated the Civil Rights Act of 1875. However, Democrat whites had regained power in the south leaving the African-Americans without representation in the congress. This allowed them to draft and pass bills that disenfranchised many poor whites and most Negros establishing white supremacist regimes (Ushistory.org, 2013). There was denial of the African-American political and civil rights through terrorizing attacks from lynch mobs and vigilante groups. A convict labor system also forced thousands of African-Americans into unpaid labor on plantations and in mines was reminiscent of slavery. Only a small number purchased land after the civil war. The African-Americans started migrating to the industrially emerging north from the agrarian south that had become increasingly difficult. However, the reception in the north was not a walk in paradise. Northerners were prejudiced against the African-Americans though the legal systems in the states were not as imposing on their rights as the south. White laborers complained of the flooding of the employment market by the Afr ican-Americans and lowering of wages. The â€Å"Negroes† segregated in urban slums by practice (Rau 7). Among these slums was Harlem. The neighborhood was a design for white workers who needed to commute to the city. Nevertheless, the project was overambitious, as the transportation could not cater for the populace. The district abandoned by whites, was sold, and rented to black real estate agents and tenants. The push of blacks from the city’s metropolitan area saw them move to the neighborhood en masse. The brightest black intellectuals, entrepreneurs, and advocates positioned themselves in Harlem bringing institutions, businesses, and a wide range of talents and ambitions with them. The neighborhood became â€Å"the Black Mecca† (Herringshaw 26). A large number of African-Americans joined the neighborhood during the First World War. The activities of the war created a deficit and demand for industrial labor while ceasing the migration of laborers from Europea n countries. This caused the Great Migration of thousands of African –Americans in the city and into the neighborhood of Harlem. After the war, African-American soldiers from units like the Harlem Hellfighters returned to a nation with citizens who had no respect for their accomplishments due to the virulent White Racism (Ushistory.org, 2013). The Renaissance started developing in the late 1910s. The â€Å"Three Plays for a Negro Theatre†

History Of American Liberty Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

History Of American Liberty - Essay Example The story of freedom’s expansion during this period was messy and conflict-ridden. The earliest settlers in the new colonies came to practice a way of life that was denied to them in their homeland. They wanted to experience religious freedom and the variety of political freedoms that were necessary in order to achieve their dream of living in community with each other without worry of persecution (Foner 47-50). This guiding principle, however, had inner conflicts such as the need to suppress certain kinds of dissent within their own communities, a system of life that was paternalistic in its treatment of women and even more importantly a need to survive the harsh life in the new environments they found themselves in (Foner 51-56). In attending to all of these needs, the colonialists met the native populations who were already here when they arrived with curiosity at first and later with a kind of malevolent manipulation. Their own need for land and safety drove them to treat the Native Americans as enemies and they began a process of slowly pushing the Native Americans out as they expanded their own territories westward (Foner 78-80). This process went on throughout the period, culminating in the Jacksonian era with an official government policy of â€Å"Indian removal† (Foner 151-155, 370-371). The drive to increase religious freedom and promote the establishment of economic independence, therefore, led to horrible discrimination against another already established group in the new territory that would eventually make up the nation. The rights of Native Americans to their own independence autonomy were continually infringed upon even as the new colonists sought to increase their own freedoms. The tragic story of the treatment of native populations is equaled, perhaps, only by the story of the treatment of the black slave populations (Foner 130-132, 220-223, 400-408).

Why is Gun Control a necessary tool to reduce the levels of violence Essay

Why is Gun Control a necessary tool to reduce the levels of violence in the USA - Essay Example However, the Gun Lobby groups are well organized, well funded, and substantially powerful for the all-out ban on such guns. Various government agency bully various lawmakers such as Congress members, Senators, and State Reps due to passing strict and effective legislation on firearms. The perception of "people kill people† is an unfounded phenomenon that gun rights advocates do not support. It is worth noting that guns were designed to murder people. The item is a war weapon that has become a way of life. Life is abruptly put to an end or altered through the pull of a trigger and the pistol’s crack. Many murder cases occurring across the world indicate that people have prior knowledge of each other in bar rooms, within the home, in parking lots, or on street corners among family, friends, and acquaintances (Spano & Pridemore & Bolland 19). In times of heated situations, the possession of firearms translates into murder. The other frequent occurrence in this case is evident when young kids have access to the guns. They play with fellow typical kids without knowledge of them being loaded. When kids poses to shoot others, it results into murder as they do not have a realization that such guns are actually loaded. In most cases, people with proper knowledge of one another involve in drastic arguments that become deadly in the presence of firearms. However, in reality, these individuals do not have an awareness of the actions they per take up to the moment the action crosses their mind and they face such situations. Further, it is even easier for people to aim a gun at people out of anger. This results in death or even permanent paralysis. In other poor urban areas, aspects of murder are rather rampant. This attributes to poverty, low employment, as well as minimal educational opportunities (Alcindor 123). In drastic environments, the drug presence, bad housing, as well as overcrowding are also major pointers of gun violence.

Astronomy assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Astronomy assignment - Essay Example It is a fact that moon does not produce its own light but only acts as a reflector of the sun’s lights. One can observe different parts of illuminated moon by the sun as it moves around the sun. This is the reason why the moon changes its shape in time and regularly. This observations where moon changes its shape in time is called the phases of the moon. As the moon moves around the earth, its one side is illuminated and changes in time from dark to fully lit and henceforth. When the moon is fully lit, it’s said to be in lunar phase (Pamela, 1996, Web) where one observes a full moon on the side facing the earth. This phase only appears when the earth positions itself between the sun and the moon where the moon reflects the lights of the sun directly to the earth. The moon the enters the quarter moon phase in about a week later and is seen as half since the visible lit portion is half by somebody on earth. When the moon moves between the earth and sun, one observing it from the earth sees a complete dark surface since at this time it’s reflecting the lights back to the sun. The complete darkness is seen at different parts since the moon itself is not transparent and blocks the lights from the sun. Although some of the lights surpasses it and directly hit the earth as the moon is smaller than the size in terms of size. This occurrences is called the new moon phase. Before and after the quarter phases of the moon, there are crescent and gibbous phases. In crescent phase, the moon surface as reflected on earth is less than half lit. Whilst in gibbous phase, the moon surface viewed on earth is more that half, but not full lit. The moon’s revolution around the earth makes it to appear like it is changing its shape. But the fact is that, it is caused by the different angles by which, it is observed on its lit-surfaced side. As

Being on Time Essay Example for Free

Being on Time Essay Time: It is the universes theoretical constant that governs, sometimes with an iron fist, the everyday lives of humans. Time has many different measurements. There are stellar measurements, such as the phases of the moon or the rotation of the Earth around our Sun. There are extremely long measurements of time, like the geological epoch that can span for tens of millions of years, and there are very small measurements such as planck time, a unit commonly used to measure events in quantum mechanics and is so small that a single unit of planck time is the equivalent of 10-43 seconds. People have always measured time in one form or another. Beginning with our ancestors, who began to measure the phases of the moon almost 30,000 years ago, to the Egyptians who began to measure time using shadows cast by large Obelisks, effectively being the very first sundials. Today, we use a common standard of time in our day-to-day lives. Sixty minutes in an hour, twenty-four hours in a day, three hundred sixty-five days in a solar year; but time has always been used to measure and record important events. This has never been more evident as it has been in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. In this era of human history, punctuality is one of the key elements of our workforce, and particularly in the military. In our world, being on-time carries more with it than just a smooth operation of events. Here, being at the right place at the right time can mean the difference between life and death. As members of the United States Army, we have made a commitment to obey our unique laws and regulations, of which precision and conscionable timing is reflected. In our Uniform Code of Military Justice, timeliness is addressed under our Punitive Articles. Chapter 10, Article 86: ABSENCE WITHOUT LEAVE Any member of the armed forces who, without authority– (1) fails to go to his appointed place of duty at the time prescribed; (2) goes from that place; or (3) absents himself or remains absent from his unit, organization, or place of duty at which he is required to be at the time prescribed; shall be punished as a court-martial may direct. With this being said it is very important for an individual to be at his/her appointed place of duty at least 15 minutes prior to the time stated. Every soldier knows the military motto â€Å"If you are 15 minutes early you are on time; if you are on time you are late! † This is something that was drilled into us during Basic Training and AIT. I understand the punishment I have been given is not to humiliate me, but make sure I adhere to the military standard at all times. I am an epitome of the soldier’s creed and I wear my uniform proudly. All though I am not perfect I strive for perfection every waking moment of everyday. I am currently paying for my actions in a previous incident and by completing the task I was given I hope to prove that I am not a loss; but someone that can be counted on when needed. I will from this point and all those times in the future; make sure I am at my appointed place of duty. If for any reason I am not able to make it on time, I will be sure to contact my chain of command and let them know why and bring evidence of the incident if instructed.

The Wembley National Stadium Construction Essay

The Wembley National Stadium Construction Essay It was built to be the new home of football; to be one of the largest and magnificent stadiums in the world and designed to be state-of-the-art with a seating capacity of 90,000. Designed by the World Stadium Team led by Mott MacDonald, the Wembley Stadium now stands as the most expensive stadium ever built, the longest single-span roof structure in the world (315m), second largest stadium in Europe and the tallest in the world (133m) with every seat under roof cover. The concept was to build a state-of-the-art stadium, with none that can compare anywhere else in the world. The new stadium has a partly retractable roof which can be adjusted to allow sunlight to reach all parts of the pitch. During bad weather, the roof can be retracted in about 15 minutes to cover every seat (http://www.designbuild-network.com/projects/wembley/).  £120 million from the Lottery Fund was invested into the stadium with an additional loan of  £426 million through West Deutsche Landesbank. A fixed price contract was reached between the client and contractors. This made provision for a building cost of  £352 million and total project costs of  £757 million (Public Accounts Committee, 2004). However, like most iconic construction projects of national interest, the Wembley project was not spared its own share of controversies, accusations, rumours, anxieties and fascination. The Football Association (FA) must have imagined a spectacular 2006 FA Cup grand finale, the biggest UK soccer championship at Wembley National Stadium. Unfortunately, this important event had to be moved all the way to Wales! What was wrong? Wembley Stadiums extraordinarily ambitious re-development was utterly behind schedule.  The project later opened in March 2007, almost a year behind schedule and  £70million over budget and has since then kept some of the finest construction lawyers in constant employment. The Wembley Stadium concept was definitely ambitious and the product stands now impressively. Even more breathe taking is the 133m arch which when lit up at night shinning gloriously, and can even be seen across London. Wembley has indeed become Englands new icon of football. The client for the project was the Football Association (FA) working through its subsidiary the Wembley National Stadium Ltd (WNSL). The main contractor was Multiplex Constructions with Mott MacDonald being the Lead Designers. The project used two project advisors; Tropus at the initial stages (1997-2001) and Capita Symonds (2001-2006). The initial steel contractor was Cleveland Bridge 2.0 Problems during the project A litany of problems can be identified that bedevilled the construction of the Wembley Stadium mainly adversarial contracts, unreasonable risk allocation, cash-flow problems, design changes, poor performance, poor site management and litigations. These are presented in details below: Delays and indecisiveness even before the project begun: Plans for a new stadium were beset with delays, management problems and increasing costs since December 1996. The designs were revealed in 1999 and the stadium should have been completed in 2003 but the work itself started only in September 2002 due to many political and financial problems. The project was finally rescheduled to complete in May 2006 (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/2119413.stm). Design Problems: Multiplex argued that Mott MacDonald`s design for the Wembley steel work was not fit for purpose and that the initial designs were not correct, constructible, co-ordinated and consistent. It further stated that Mott MacDonalds deficient design, failure to warn and/or take action is shown in many thousands of individual acts or omissions (Technology and Construction Court (TCC), 2006). Scope Creep: The initial scope was to accommodate athletics, rugby and football in the same stadium. This later became very controversial and resulted in the removal of athletics from the scheme in 1999, because of the technical and commercial challenges of accommodating the three sports within the same stadium. In December 2001, the scope was further changed with the removal of a hotel from the project, the expansion of hospitality suites and considerable changes to the north side of the stadium bowl. This took the Mott Consortium 7-8 months to redesign. These changes increased the cost of the project especially in steel works (TCC, 2006). Procurement Issues: In the conclusions of Public Accounts Committee (Eighth Report of Session 2003-04), it stated that Best procurement practice has not been followed on what is a high profile project Organisations responsible for managing projects should be expected to set out a formal procurement process, which treats all bidders equally to avoid giving any one a potential advantage over the others. It further criticised Wembley National Stadium Limited for failing to follow a detailed and overt formal procurement process and having dialogue with Multiplex prior to starting the procurement process. A report by former Wembley project manager Tropus, said the appointment was made with undue speed. The James Report also concluded that there had been serious flaws in the procurement policies.'(James Report, 2002) Poor Communication: Apart from the major changes in the scope of the works, Multiplex  lamented not given access to vital design information which made them underprice the steelwork. Mott on the other hand thought Multiplex was aware of the state of design, having managed the design process and having been intimately involved in the design work. (Wembley Stadium into Injury Time, 2002) Poor Planning and organisation: A lot of decisions seem to have been made hastily. No wonder several changes had to be made at later stages. When it became a prime objective to finish the project in time for the FA Cup finale in May 2006, efficiency and cost effectiveness became secondary issues. In my opinion, a lot of problems could have been avoided if Multiplex did not have to rush the job to meet unrealistic deadlines. Multiplex claims that it has sustained significant losses as a result of a multitude of breaches of contract and/or acts of negligence by the consultant, which had far-reaching effects for Wembley (TCC, 2006; Baloch, 2008). Disputes and disagreements: Cleveland Bridge (CB), the steel contractor terminated their contract in 2004 because they did not believe they would be paid for materials and that there were seemingly insurmountable difficulties between them and Multiplex. A sustained input from a steelwork subcontractor could have greatly influenced the timely completion of the project but eventually CB had to be replaced with all attending problems of a new project team member. Health and Safety problems: In March 2006, a temporary roof support fell by over half resulting in the evacuation of all construction workers and delay of work. Another accident occurred January 2004 resulting in the death of one construction worker and the injury of another when a platform collapsed without warning, trapping the men underneath (http://www.designbuild-network.com/projects/wembley/) Poor Performance by Cleveland Bridge: Delays were caused by CB as not all the steel sent to China could be fabricated in time to comply with the programme. So the steel sent to China was often shipped back to England with most not fabricated. Furthermore the steel sent to site was often missing crucial pieces (meaning it could not be erected) or else was untagged with the consequence that site staff could not identify the relevant pieces of steel (TCC, 2006). Poor Supervision by Sports England: The Government was less than happy with the level of supervision offered by Sport England. It stated that Sport Englands performance in monitoring the progress of the project has been lack, slovenly and supine. This ultimately resulted in supply team missing the focal point of the project right from the beginning and before long, a lot was out of hand (Wembley Stadium into Injury Time, 2002). Poor Stakeholder management: In a statement by The House of Commons Culture, Media and Sports Committee, it blamed some of the problems encountered on the project on poor stakeholder management. It said, the project had been undermined by the fundamental failure to include all representatives at the outset in planning the redevelopment (www.publications.parliament.uk). The resignation of Ken Bates in 2001 as chairman of WNSL gives a further hint. He cited a lack of support from the board and that he had been undermined by senior figures within both the government and the FA. He remarkably said, Even Jesus Christ only had one Pontius Pilate I had a whole team of them. (www.forbes.com). 3.0 The Problems Encountered: The Role of Project Management Project Management (PM) is the . . . application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities to achieve project requirements. (PMBoK, 2004). This same theme runs through other standards for PM including BS6079 and ISO 10006. Suffice it for now to say that PM is the managerial responsibility and actions involved in completing a project on time, in budget and to the specified quality standards, in accordance with the traditional performance criteria. The role of PM in the Wembley project will now be appraised under some of the key knowledge areas identified in the PMBoK. 3.1 Project Scope Management This involves developing a scope statement that will define the boundaries of the project and verify the amount of work to be done. PM uses such tools as brainstorming, fast diagrams, Value Management workshops to define the project. This is because if you have the wrong definition, you may come up with the right solution-to the wrong problem!(Lewis, 2007). If scope definition is not holistically carried out, major changes such as those experienced on Wembley may occur later and cause delays, cost variations leading to claims and litigations. This, I believe, was the akiles heel of this iconic project. Where change becomes inevitable, PM should manage them to protect the project from the effects of scope creep. Wembley failed in this area resulting in the considerable cost and time overruns. Lewis (2007) rightly said, I have become convinced that projects seldom fail at the end. Rather, they fail at the definition stage. 3.2 Project Time Management PM adorns itself with yet another accolade of being able to effectively estimate time frame for projects realistically and defining work packages and milestone to achieve this target. It employs one of its popular tools of Critical Path Method and scheduling in this respect. Many softwares including Primavera and MS Project have also been developed to helped in the management of time. Kaming (1997), Elinwa (2001) and Aibini (2006) however reveal that the occurrence of time overruns is high and that overruns can occur of projects irrespective of its size. Wembley was no exception. Some of the disputes, changes, cash flow problems, design problems etc. that caused resulted in the project being delivered in 10 months late and the subsequent changing of the FA Cup finals to Wales could have been avoided through effective project time management. PM should have helped to come out with a realistic duration for the project. 3.3 Project Cost Management This involves estimating the cost of all resources and such things as travel and other support details. After this is done, costs are budgeted and tracked to keep the project within that budget (Rad, 2002). This is very important in PM as the first question most clients ask is how much will it cost? It is the duty of the PM to realistically determine what it will cost to achieve a particular scope. The tough question then arises. Was Wembleys initial cost of  £445million realistic? Why did cost rise astronomically to  £757million at completion? The project even had to be stalled into injury time just to seek additional funding. Why couldnt PM prevent this? Much of the blame lies squarely on PMs failure to realistically estimate cost at conception. 3.4 Project Communications Management This is the processes required to ensure timely and appropriate generation, collection, dissemination, storage, and disposition of project information. (PMBoK, 2004). Multiplex  claims it was not given access to vital design information and that this led to increased steelwork costs. Mott MacDonald on the other hand dismisses this saying, Multiplex was aware of the state of design, having managed the design process and having been intimately involved in the design work (TCC, 2006). PM is supposed to create a smooth communication interface between all parties to forestall these misunderstandings. 3.5 Project Procurement Management This helps in selecting the most appropriate contractors and suppliers, administers the contract as well as form the best working relationships between all parties to achieve project goals. The Public Accounts Committee (2003-04), stated that Best procurement practice has not been followed on what is a high profile project PM should have also salvaged the problem between Mott, Cleveland and Multiplex before it got out of hand, resulting in Cleveland walking away from the project with its attending problems. More also, it is known that competitive tendering and cost as a selection criteria has produced poor results in construction over the years and PM should have helped in designing the best procurement approach to prevent the problems (Egan, 1998). The contract used for the project was fixed cost method in which the client cleverly shirks risk to the contractor. This form of contract invariably results in creating an adversarial environment with where each party involved focuses their attentions on the needs and risks of their businesses as opposed to those of the project (Morriss, P. and Hollis, A., 2005).This may well be another area that grossly affected the results on Wembley and effective PM should have prevented this. 3.6 Stakeholder Management: Freeman and McVea (2001) describe this function as looking out from the firm or project and identifying, and investing in all the relationships that will ensure long-term success. At concept stage, this is used to collect views of all interested parties, especially those of end users who usually hold vital information that may be critical to the design, function and success of a project. If this was effectively done, it would have prevented the acrimony that grew between some of the contractors and would have saved the project from unnecessary delays and increased cost of replacing Cleveland Bridge. It would have helped to produce the best fitting design as well as sort out the fact that athletics, football and rugby in the same venue would present a lot of technical and functional difficulties at the design stage saving the project from about 8 months of redesign. 3.7 Site Management: Chan (1997) showed that out of 8 group factors that caused delays in construction projects, poor site management and supervision was amongst the top five. The accusations and counter-accusations during the hearing at the Technology and Construction Court between Multiplex and Cleveland Bridge gives us yet another glimpse into an area of failure of PM on Wembley. The site was poorly managed as it was littered with random pieces of steel that had been delivered in the wrong order and a significant quantity of steel was sitting on trailers adjacent to the site or around the perimeter. This had the potential of disrupting flow of activities and even causing accidents (TCC, 2006). 4.0 The Actions and MeasureS that should have been taken The influential Latham (1994) and Egan (1998) reports called for new approaches to construction- one in which client leadership is key and where there is greater collaborative working between firms within the construction supply chain. Egan summarised five key drivers of change namely committed leadership; a focus on the customer; integrated processes and teams; a quality driven agenda; and a commitment to people. Some of the necessary actions and measures that should have been taken is now presented below: 4.1 Key Client Leadership: The new Terminal Five at Heathrow is a widely acclaimed example of current construction best practice. The approach was unique and tailored to the very needs of the project i.e. the client took a level of ownership of project thus creating a clear vision for how it wanted the project delivered and also staying close enough to the project from inception to completion (Brady, 2008). Latham (1994) recommended that the client should be at the core of the construction process because clients [essentially] drive best practice. Egan (1998). The Client in the Wembley Stadium project was the Football Association and thus should have: stayed close enough to the project, monitoring it and to make sure things dont go out of hand; ensured that major changes to the scope of works was frozen at a particular point on the project or avoided altogether. These changes often result in dispute, delays and extra expense; made sure that adequate funding was secured for the project before it even begun and that the estimation of both time and cost were realistically carried out; come out with clear, concise, realistic and unambiguous objectives at the conception of the project involving all necessary stakeholders so that major changes, such as those that were experienced, could be avoided; shared in risk of development/construction rather than cleverly shoving it to contractors. 4.2 The Heathrow Method: Terminal 5 was an audacious development project that involved more than 60 contractors and 16 major projects. British Airways Authority (BAA) adopted a unique approach to the project to make sure it is completed both on time and within budget. It used an innovative form of cost-reimbursable contract the T5 Agreement under which BAA holds all the risks associated with the project rather than transferring the risks to external suppliers and guarantees a level of pro ¬Ã‚ t for suppliers. (Brady, 2008). The Agreement included an incentive payment for contractors that achieved a certain level of performance. It decided to reimburse the costs of delivery and to reward exceptional performance and punish mediocre and poor performance only in terms of pro ¬Ã‚ tability. This created some sort of win-win environment for all parties and motivated the contractors to focus their attention on the needs of the project and collectively solve problems rather than concen trate on their own business risks and interests. These are the fundamental reasons why T5 achieved the laudable success of staying within budget and cost at completion. Cleveland would not have walked out of the job if it was given firm assurance of re-imbursement of cost incurred. The contracts should have been designed with an approach that offered incentives to all, for improvement in cost, time or quality and not in an adversarial environment associated with fixed cost contracts. 4.3 Integrating the Supply chain: Both Latham (1994) and Egan (1998) underscored the importance of using integrated teams to realise project goals. The T5 approach used by BAA combined two main principles: the client always bears the risk; and partners are worth more than suppliers. It provides an appropriate environment for integrated team working [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] to enable suppliers to work effectively and focus on meeting the projects objectives not only in relation to the traditional time, budget, and quality measures but also in relation to safety and environmental targets (Brady, 2008). By doing that you take away negativity, allow space for innovation and create any opportunity for people to perform at levels they havent been allowed to before (Mylius, 2005). 4.4 Involvement of end users: End users often hold vital information as they are usually in a better position to comment on the detailed requirements for a building than senior management who may not even be the occupants of the building when it is completed. After all, the users have first hand experience of what makes a building successful or otherwise (Menches, 2008). By the use of such methods as focus groups, value management workshops and major surveys, the issue of athletics, rugby and football in the same venue could have been resolved even before any detailed design and thus eliminating the extensive delays and cost implications it had on the project (Barrett, P., and Stanley, C., 1999). 4.5 Use of a Project bank: In an attempt to integrate project teams in an atmosphere of trust, collaboration and openness, the National Audit Office (NAO) of the UK suggested the use of a project bank account. To ensure better construction, it said, suppliers [require] greater certainty that they will be paid on time to re-enforce the trust that should exist between all parties for collaborative working to operate effectively. This was endorsed by the Specialist Contractors who indicated that payments for the project delivery team should be protected and secure, which would, in turn, significantly reduce disputes and, more importantly, will encourage closer working relationships between all parties. (Parliamentary Newsletter, Issue 3, Spring/Summer 2006). 4.6 Best Project Management Practice: At the execution level, much of the problems that occurred on the project could have been avoided or its impact attenuated if best project management practice was adopted by all especially Multiplex and Cleveland Bridge. Problems of poor site management practice, poor or incorrect fabrication of steel, design change management and communication could have been arrested with proper planning, organisation and control. 4.7 Careful Monitoring: Projects rarely stay on track in terms of time and cost. the more likely occurrence is that projects will be behind schedule yet over budget at any point in time. Good project management carefully and critically appraises all factors that a likely to push a project off schedule (Office of Government Commerce, 2005). Monitoring progress carefully and instigating timely corrective actions by both WNSL, Multiplex as well as the FA, would have helped identify the likely impact of any problems so that action can be taken to get the project back on track. 5.0 Conclusion Experience is a great asset to professionals practicing in any discipline, whether that experience comes from success or failure and whoever fails to learn from his mistakes is doomed to repeat them. Some of the key lessons on Wembley Stadium is thus now summarised below: Adequate time and effort needs to be invested in the strategic planning phase of every project to come out with clear, realistic, and unambiguous project objectives; Project team must engage effectively with users and other external stakeholders especially at the concept stage of any scheme to save the project from major changes with its attending problems; Construction procurement must move away from competitive tendering and cost as the selection criteria and develop procedures that use performance and team partnering and capability; Contracts must be designed to provide incentive to all for cost and time improvement and also forge a win-win environment between clients and supply chain members; Enough resources have to be made available for the project based on realistic estimates; Clients must assume central roles in projects for they essentially drive best practice; Continual change in project requirements and scope can be very detrimental for the project; Dysfunctional relationships and fragmentation can turn a perfect project scheme into a complete chaos and thus project teams must operate as a cohesive unit, with clear allocation of roles and responsibilities. Finally, it is evident, at least from the Wembley Stadium project that a poor knowledge and a lack awareness of the fundamental project management skills by the client can lead to failure as clients essentially drive best practice. An effective and successful outcome of project management on any project in most cases will only be achieved if both the client and the contractor or project management organisations are effective in the skills of project management. A poor client organisation, in terms of project management, may well drive a good project manager and his team into poor performance. Agreeably, it may not be a panacea due to many circumstances and occurrences that may well be out of its control. However, Project Management stands the chance of producing laudable results if the construction industry stopped treating it casually and unprofessionally but rigorously apply the great worth of knowledge and experience its gathered over the past years, through both its success and failure stories.

The Rate of Hydrolysis of Sucrose Essay -- Biology Science Experiments

The Rate of Hydrolysis of Sucrose Hypothesis - The digestion of sucrose into glucose and fructose is carried out by the presence of the enzyme Sucrase. The activity of the enzyme will be greatest at its optimum temperature since at this temperature the enzyme's tertiary structure will be correct to allow the formation of the substrate-enzyme complex quickly and efficiently. This should be at 37Â °C (body temperature), which is the temperature of the ileum where Sucrase is secreted and naturally functions. The first thing to say about enzymes is that they are proteins and they are found in all types of organisms from humans to viruses. They function in the body as catalysts. In other words they speed up the rate of chemical reactions in the body. Enzymes actually accelerate chemical reactions by a factor of about 1 million. Enzymes are organic catalysts. Without enzymes the metabolism of an organism would be too slow for the organism to survive. The word enzyme actually means "in yeast" as they were first discovered in these micro-organisms. Enzymes are found inside cells (intracellular) and outside cells (extra cellular). Intracellular enzymes are for example, those that control metabolism while extra cellular enzymes are for example, gut digestive juices and the enzymes secreted by bacteria, which digest their food outside the body then reabsorb the products. Enzymes work on particular organic chemicals, these are called substrates. So in effect food is the substrate of digestive enzymes. Each enzyme is specific to one or a group of particular substrates. The majority of the reactions that occur in living organisms are enzyme-controlled. Without enzymes toxins would soon build up and the supply of respiratory substrate would decrease. Enzymes are proteins and thus have a specific shape. They are therefore specific in the reactions that they catalyse - one enzyme will react with molecules of one substrate. The site of the reaction occurs in an area on the surface of the protein called the active site. Since the active site for all molecules of one enzyme will be made up of the same arrangement of amino acids, it has a highly specific shape. Generally, there is only one active site on each enzyme molecule and only one type of substrate molecule will fit into it. Lock and key hypothesis description of the specificity of t... ... well as this the final colour was defined. Results : my results from then on were much more reliable and the average was easier to plot on a graph drawing my expected curve. The first colour change was a loss of the base pink colour and the final colour change is a measurable blue. Throughout all these preliminary experiments and the final one all laboratory safety precautions will be observed. To check the reliability of my results I will take a mean average of all 3 experiments I finally did. Using the mean of all the experiments I then will work out the standard deviation of the primary colour change and the final colour change. On the graphs the X axis is numbered 1-6, this corresponds to the Sucrase Concentration 0.0%-2.5%. Below is the preliminary experiment graph for primary colour change at 0-5% solution. The line slopes down as the reaction time decreases in relation to the concentration. This was the graph of the preliminary experiment after making the changes due to evidence from preliminary experiment 1 and 2. Prediction: I predict that the higher the concentration the faster the reaction due to induced fit and lock and key hypothesis.

Cosmogony :: essays research papers fc

Cosmogony Works Cited Brandon, S.G.F. Dictionary of Comparative Religion. New York: Charles Scribner’s   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Sons, 1970. â€Å"Cosmogony.† World Book Encyclopedia. 1990 ed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Different religions view the idea of how the world was created, or cosmogony, in different ways. China holds many cosmogonies, but they all revolve around the same ideas. Egypt’s cosmogony was motivated by the desire that their God created all other gods. The views of people define the cosmogony in Greece, mostly of Homer. Cosmogony in the Hebrew religion is defined in the first two chapters of Genesis(Brandon 208). Japanese cosmogonic mythology has its beginnings of myths that one can trace way back. Some views of the different religions remain the same, but most views differ from each other.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Chinese philosophical interest was centered on human affairs. Egypt was motivated to show that divine fiat conceives cosmic creation (Brandon 208). The Greek philosophy concerned itself with considering origin and constitution of the universe. Some cosmological ideas in the Hebrew religion represent the creation of the universe by divine fiat (Brandon 208). Divine fiat is defined when God said ‘Let there be light’; and there was light (qtd. in â€Å"Cosmogony†). Pentateuch and Yahwist deal with the creation and the fall of Adam. Shinto produced another cosmogony that presents a division in the universe. The upper world consisted of gods and everlasting bliss. The middle world included man on the surface of the earth. The lower world of darkness, known as Yomi, which possesses evil spirits that live under rule of earth-mother (Brandon 210).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  According to the Huai-Nantzu, in China, the universe of space and time arose before Heaven and Earth took shape. The earliest Egyptian cosmogony presented Atum as the creator and Heliopolis as the place. The Greeks believed Hesiod also explains evolution of mankind as a series of Five Ages. Yahwist, in the Hebrew religion accounts on the creation of the world by an editor who fused Pentateuch and Yahwist into continuous writings of divine creation. The Japanese believed the world of forms to be formed from emanations proceeding from the Dhyani-Buddha (â€Å"Cosmogony†).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Han Dynasty founded the first fully developed cosmogonies for China. This naturalistic cosmogony taught that the origin of the all things lay in the Great Ultimate. The Great Ultimate produced two forces of Yin and Yang. Yin and Yang combined to form four emblems, which then produced the Eight Trigrams. The Eight Tigrams resulted in all the phenomena of the world (Brandon 207).

Motion Analysis – Jump Shot

Motion Analysis: Basketball Jump Shot The main joints involved in a basketball jump shot include the hip, knee, ankle, shoulder, elbow, and wrist. All of these joints flex and extend. The jump shot can be split into three parts: the set-up, the jump and release, and the post-release. The set-up involves a lot of flexion and extension of the hip, knee, ankle, and shoulder. Hip flexion occurs first and flexion of both knees until the thighs are parallel to the ground follows closely. Knee flexion occurs simultaneously with dorsi-flexion of both ankles to lessen the force of landing on the knees.The moment the subject’s feet are planted on the ground, flexion of both shoulders occurs until the tricep muscle is parallel to the ground. At this point, it is important to note that the elbow in the beginning of the set-up is already in flexion, forming a right angle between the forearm and upper arm. The wrist hyperextends so the ball is resting in the palm of the subject. In this cas e, the subject is right handed, so the ball rests primarily in the right palm while the left hand provides support. At this point, the subject is ready to jump.Four joint actions occur simultaneously at this time. Both knees, ankles, and the hip extend as the subject pushes off the ground, and the elbow flexes a little further back. When the subject is in the air, the dominant elbow extends and the ball starts to roll towards the tip of the fingers. When the elbow is almost entirely extended, the wrist begins to flex, which is when the release occurs and the ball leaves the palm of the hand towards the basket. After the release, the subject is drawn back to the ground.During this descent, the shoulders begin to extend back towards the anatomical position. This action continues through the landing. As the subject lands, the ankles begin to dorsi-flex. During the dorsi-flexion, the knees and hips flex slightly to absorb the force of landing. By the end of the landing, the hip and knee s are flexed, the shoulders are completely extended, and the feet are firmly planted on the ground. The hip joint flexes primarily due to the iliopsoas muscle. The knee is controlled by rectus femoris and biceps femoris muscles. R. emoris is responsible for extension and B. femoris is responsible for flexion. The ankle dorsiflexes because of the gastrocnemius and plantar flexes due to anterior tibialis. Shoulder flexion occurs because of Pectoralis major and extension occurs because of Latissimus dorsi. Biceps brachii is responsible for elbow flexion and triceps brachii is responsible for elbow extension. Flexor carpi radialis and Flexor carpi ulnaris are responsible for wrist flexion and Extensor carpi radialis and Extensor carpi ulnaris are responsible for the extension of the wrist.

Blindside Movie Analysis Essay

I am writing an essay that is analyzing the movie The Blind Side and relating it to the essay â€Å"Seeking and Making Culture: Representing the Poor† by bell hooks. The issue that is motivating me to write is to show that there is collateral learning in this movie and to show that there are contradictory and stereotypical images of poverty. A writer that has addressed the issue about poverty and the poor class is bell hooks, using her personal experiences to influence her writing in the essay. My working thesis is that there is chances in life that a person may come along that would change our life perspectives. How we approach that change and be courageous enough to do something about it may have a lifelong impact on another person and might make a huge difference. My audience is teenagers, young adults and adults to help them get rid of the stereotypical image of poor people in the world. I think my use of specific details from the movie is working best. The parts of my ess ay that I am least satisfied with are tying the article from hooks back to the movie. The kinds of feedback that I would like are to make sure I answered all of the questions of WAR and that I was specific enough in my essay. The Blind Side describes the struggle of a Black man to become part of the White society. Michael Oher, the main character in the story shows the audience how a black man experiences mistreatment and discrimination from his white community that is the common trend of American mainstream. However, the film also wants to deconstruct the traditional perceptions towards White Americans through the Tuohy family. In this movie, the  director shows how White Americans like the Tuohy family accepts Michael for who he is and what he wants to be. The Tuohys become Michael’s enduring power, armor, and salvation as he faces his new path of transformation, social acceptance, and immersion. From this sense, it can be perceived that Hancock’s film depicts the notion of popular culture as it emphasizes the different issues of the society such as race, racism, cultural differences, cultural interaction, and other ideas about culture and society. Having an extreme difference in terms o f race, lifestyle, social background, and social status, the two races are combined together under one roof to describe the possible repulsion that might occur as well as the attraction that can happen between them. However, it is not only this internal repulsion or attraction that is presented as a conflict of the film, but also the people within the Tuohys social surroundings. Since Leigh Anne and Sean are influential individuals because of their profession, people around them think that adopting Michael taints their good reputation. This is one of the major struggles of the Tuohy family along with Michael, but they stand up against their foes and prove to these people that Michael is more civilized than those who continue to criticize him. In article â€Å"Seeing and Making Culture: Representing the Poor†, bell hooks brings to the surface issues involving people of higher classes compared to those in poverty. In addressing issues like assumptions made about the poor, how the poor are viewed in popular culture and how the poor are represented on television or in movies. One of hooks main arguments is brought into focus throughout the movie. The concept of popular culture emerges in this film in three distinct themes: racism within the football team, the lifestyle of the socialites, and when an upcoming superstar is â€Å"made,† people keep an eye on this individual. Logically, racism occurs in television, radio, movies, and other types of media. Most of the time, these industries use racism as a form of stereotyping. That is why common people utilize these ideals; they think that it is accepted in the society. This is what happened to Michael. He faces discrimination inside his own classroom. Even his teacher demonstrates the differences of how a White teacher interacts with a Black student like him. It is a form of stereotype that the media continues to express towards its audience. Another example of popular culture in this film is when Michael begins his football career. When the football coach,  Burt Cotton sees Michael’s potential, he accepts the main character as a student of Wingate Christian School. This is also the beginning of Michael’s popularity. People, even the coaches and owners of different universities, want Michael to become part of their school. That is why despite Michael’s academic records and race, they are interested in him. People begin to keep their eyes on Michael’s actions and achievements because he becomes popular and he soon becomes part of their lifestyle. In hooks article, one of her main arguments is about false assumptions made about the poor from her life experiences. She states, â€Å"That the poor class were almost always portrayed the poor as shiftless, mindless, lazy, dishonest, and unworthy†. This relates to the movie because the Tuohys community has specific sets of moral values. They believe that Black Americans are unacceptable within their community or surroundings because they are the roots of negativities. This is also an example of high culture being looked at as a superior culture. The Tuohys do not change this norm, but they create their own values by accepting Michael and believe in him and his capabilities as a person. The Blindside and hooks article helps us learn that there is more to a story then just what is put on the screen. The story line is a lot deeper and has a lot of other meanings then we think. The Tuohys’ ideology is different from the standard culture of the society, but because they are part of their community, they have to express their ideology. It is hard in the beginning to show their different point of view, but they win the battle against their foes because Michael shows that he is different from the stereotypic character of a Black American. Work Cited Greene, Stuart, and April Lidinsky. From Inquiry to Academic Writing: A Text and Reader. 2nd ed. Boston: Bedford/St.Martins, 2008. 344-49, 358-71. Print.

Euro Disney Intercultural Management

Disney Corporation faced lots of problems when launching Euro Disneyland in Paris. Most of them were caused by poor research of the European market, European people’s traits and habits. Question 1: What could have been the reason why guests were spending less and leaving sooner? Disney Corporation expected that people will spend a lot of time and money in Euro Disney Park, however in reality they leave sooner and spend less money than was expected, and it causes big losses.The main reason of it can be explained by Geert Hofstede?s dimension about time-orientation which is very similar to Fons Trompenaar?s time-orientation dimension. As USA is considered to be short-term-oriented country, while European countries are long-term-oriented people spend money differently. Europeans are likely to save money, save it for the future, not to spend big sums of money in short period, but US citizens can often spend a lot easily, and they are not likely to save money. Additionally, America ns did not count with the importance of culture for the average European citizen.When visiting Paris, thousand years of history surrounds you. To the American, whose country is only a few hundred years old, the perception of spending your holiday does not likely include sightseeing. But when a European visits Paris, they will surely spend part of their holiday to discover one of the most famous and historical cities in Europe. Evidently they will spend less time in Disneyland, there is much else to see. Question 2: When reading the description of some of the critical aspects, what could have been the major problems and how could they be solved?From the beginning Disney Corporation applied universalistic approach. As Disney’s community relation manager said: â€Å"we knew it would work because it had worked everywhere else†. They wanted that everything in this new Disney Park in Paris was as it is in USA because they already had experience of applying the same method in Japan. And in Japan it was successful; however it didn’t work in Europe. Probably, it was not a good idea for European Disneyland, since French and all Europeans are different from U. S. people by mentality; they have other habits, which effect European customers’ behavior.To solve this problem Fons Trompenaar’s dimension about universalistic and particularistic approach can be used. As it was necessary from Disney Corporation to apply particularistic approach instead of universalistic, so they could make research before launching the park. Disney Corporation made all the same settings as they open new Disneyland in U. S. , so French citizens considered it as Americans’ desire to create a piece of USA on their land. In order not to have this problem Disney Corporation could know just one most wide-spread stereotype about France that French are proud people.They are a nation that works hard to preserve their culture. Tourists often complain that they donà ¢â‚¬â„¢t speak English with them even if they know the language. They actively discourage the Anglicization of the French language, the primary objective of L'Academie francaise is to preserve the language. So it was obvious that French people will not welcome freely Americanization of their holidays on their land. If Disney Corporation just showed respect and add a bit of French traditional, cultural features, then French people would not perceive Disney as threat.Moreover, it could attract more customers exactly to Paris Euro Disneyland, as they can find here some special things which they were not able to find in other Disneyland. One more major reason of Disney Corporation failure in France can be explained by Fons Trompenaar’s Nature Orientation dimension. As U. S. A. is rather internal country the corporation could believe that everything depends on them, they thought they could force Europeans to spend money. It can be prove by Disney’s community relations manag er: â€Å"We are so good, nothing can stop us†.Disney Corporation staff believed that if they create proper conditions, if they find, train good personnel – European customers will increase their expenditures and will stay late in the park. However, there are things which were not under Corporation control, for example, habit of Europeans to economize money is stronger than desire to spend more money in short-period. There is only one way to solve these kinds of problems, just to pay attention to them, be careful to consumers’ behavior, to be really customer-driven company.Question 3: What assumptions did Disney make about the French and Europeans (as guests and consumers)? How might Disney have had a more favorable initial experience in France? The Disney Corporation assumed that all Europeans, as a â€Å"civilized West† are very similar to Americans, that European customers will behave the same way as Americans. And even if they have different way of va cations, they assumed that Disney will be able to Americanize Europeans’ vacation habits, what could entertain American families would satisfy European families as well.Disney Corporation thought that what they created in Paris is something immortal and has enough to keep families happily there for a week. But thanks to Europeans’ cultural features, it is a safe bet that what American culture could offer would not be enough for them in many aspects. A civilization so deeply affected by their thousand year culture has different expectations. In addition chicken nuggets, hot dogs and fries might be somewhat standard fair in America but in Europe food is to be enjoyed and savored and one tends to linger over a meal as opposed to eat as quickly as possible.Disney could have had a more favorable initial experience had they have prepared some market research. They would have found that the country has very different working standards. France has a lot smaller Power Distance than that in USA, additionally they are proud people, they must have taken it really bad when everything was prescribed to the last detail and they secretly kept a close watch over their work. In order to operate such a large and prestigious theme park with thousands of employees and millions of visitors, it’s inevitable to find out the expectations by both labor and customer side.Strategies to transfer a successful business concept from one culture to another An important lesson to be learned is to always take cultural features into consideration. It is the base of good cross-cultural relationships both inside and outside of the corporation. Our success greatly relies on our customers’ judgement and our employees’ loyalty, which depend on managing cultural differences. It can be done in several ways, but the first step is always to examine and evaluate the country’s cultural dimensions.Then we can move on to the next step: If it suits the country of dest ination (=CoD), leadership and most decisions can be defined by the country of origin (=CoO) (if the CoD has high PDI and UAI, Communitarianist and Specific, Achievement oriented†¦), or CoO has to let local leadership make short- and medium-term decisions (low PDI, high Masculinity, Individualist and Emotional†¦) Same market/customer approach can be applied if the CoD’s cultural dimension indexes are about the same as the CoO’s – translation check must be done.There is no point in changing the image if our brand is already widely known and accepted, but needs a new type of approach if the CoO’s cultural values don’t match the CoD’s values. Generally neighbour countries are likely to share the same values because they root from a mutual history. Product placement – we have to find out about the CoD’s Time Orientation and Nature Orientation in order to get a correct picture: what do our employees and customers expect of our product?What alteration must be done to keep our employees and customers satisfied and our business profitable? The answer is simple – if the CoD has high Long-Term Orientation and Nature Orientation, then we must plan our product to be economical, nature-friendly and our company will produce lower but more sustainable profit. If it’s indexes are low, we are facing a short but rapid profit attainment, and our products â€Å"go out of fashion† quickly.

Generally Accepted Accounting Principles Essay

Although dropping slightly the second year they have managed to improve this in their third year increasing their overall profitability Safety Styles has also increased both its Return on Assets and Return on Equity, this demonstrates the ability of the company to efficiently make use of its assets and equity which ultimately reduces requirements for more funding and reduces cost making better use of what they currently have. Efficiency: Safety Styles Pty Ltd appears on average over the last three years to be improving its efficiency to make better use of their assets and turning over their inventory. Safety should also focus on this area and strive to improve their efficiency. Whilst the values may seem quiet higher their total sales amount has raised which may not be taken into account with averages. Safety Styles may need to revisit their inventory strategy as their turn over period is quite high; this would be a benefit for them in the long term by having quicker access to cash for investment in other assets. They should also pay attention to their Accounts Receivable Turnover and aim to reduce this. Liquidity: Whilst Safety Styles Current ratio and Quick asset ratio is declined they are both still very healthy numbers. Safety Styles non-current assets have been increasing annually. They may want to pay attention to reducing their inventory levels and accounts receivable to give them more cash and the opportunity to invest into non-current assets or reduce their liabilities as they currently has a low level of cash compared to inventory and accounts receivable. This will make the company more â€Å"liquid† in the short term. Safety Styles also has a very healthy quick asset ratio compared to the industry standard of 2. It should be noted that Safety Styles currently do not have a high level of liabilities and seem to be maintaining their levels of dent in relation to their assets Capital Structure: Safety Styles currently have a very low gearing ratio and are using retained earnings for most of their financing. External sources of financing will be a benefit to Safety Styles to help them grow and invest in additional non-current assets.

Relations between o. henry’s life and the story “buried treasure”

O. Henry was born in September 11, 1862 as William Sydney Porter in Greensboro, North Carolina. Porter’s father, Argentina Sidney Porter worked as a physician (Read print, 08). Unfortunately, Porter’s mother died when he was aged three and was therefore raised by his grandmother and aunt. Porter was an enthusiastic reader but he discontinued school at the age of 15 years. He started working in a drug story and later on a ranch in Texas. He then went to Houston where among other jobs he worked as a bank clerk. Money was found to be missing from the bank he was working in and he was required to stand trial but he fled to avoid trial. He returned to Austria when he heard that his wife was in her death bed in 1897. He was convicted of embezzlement of funds although there questions arose over his guilt. He was jailed in 1898 till 1901. He wrote his first works in Penitentiary at Columbus, which marked his career start as an author. In his work, â€Å"Buried Treasure†, there are various aspects of O. Henry’s life that are related to the story. It is indicated in his biography that he wrote about the life of ordinary people in New York City (On-line literature, 08). In the story, he says that his idea of a happy home is an eight room house in a groove of live oaks by the side of a charco on a Texas prime, a piano, an automatic player and ponies. This reflects the wishes of most ordinary people. Another fact in the author’s life that is related to his work on the buried treasure is his education. O. Henry dropped out of school at the age of 15 years old meaning he never attained his college education. This is reflected in the story as he reveals now and again his contempt for college education. This is brought forward by his attitude towards Goodloe Banks who is a young man from college. O. Henry wrote that Goodloe Banks ran to books, manners, culture, rowing, intellect and clothes while he was more into baseball and Friday-night debating societies and more by way of culture and good horseback ride (Classical reader, 08). O. Henry clearly brings out the fact that education is not always the key as the character Goodloe Banks is portrayed as educated but his education does not lead him to the treasure. Goodloe’s education is portrayed to be for exploitation as the character Ed exploits him to get to the buried treasure in this case Miss May Martha Mangum. Porter’s father, Algernon Sidney Porter, was a physician. Although a lot is not said about him, O. Henry at some point could be referring to him in the story ‘Buried Treasure’. In the story, May Martha’s father is said to be a man behind whiskers and spectacles. He is an etymologist. Scientists in the story are said to be apt to be absent- minded. Algernon Sidney Porter is obviously in the same category of scientists and therefore O. Henry could be indirectly referring to him as absent-minded. Finally, in the book 41 stories, Porter is said to have gone to Texas primarily for health reasons and worked on a sheep ranch and lived with a family that had close ties with the Porter’s family in North Carolina (O.Henry, 84). Porter gathered knowledge of ranch life which he describes in the story ‘Buried Treasure’. In the story, the character, Ed, is said to want to retire to a ranch with three thousand heads of cattle in Texas. Works Cited List: Classical Reader (2008). Buried Treasure (Options). Viewed on 15th March, 2008 at http://www.classicreader.com/read.php/sid.6/bookid.973/ O. Henry. Selected Stories. Guy Davenport: Viking Penguin. 1993 O. Henry. 41 Stories. Burton Raffel: New American Library. 1984 Online Literature (2008). O. Henry-Biography and Works. Viewed on 15th March, 2008 at http://www.online-literature.com/o_henry/ Read Print (2008). O. Henry-Books and Biography. Viewed on 15th March, 2008 at http://www.readprint.com/author-45/o_henry

Evaluation of a workplace learning environment(school) Essay

Evaluation of a workplace learning environment(school) - Essay Example Given this acknowledgement of the importance of workplace learning, I proceed by investigating the utility of learning theories in identifying barriers to such learning. Workplace learning has been defined as â€Å"learning or training undertaken in the workplace, usually on the job, including on-the-job training under normal operational conditions, and onsite training, which is conducted away from the work process (e.g. in a training room† (Australian National Training Authority, online). It critical to undertake workplace learning since it accords the key competencies needed by the school to stay competitive. How is a workplace ideal for learning envisioned? Smith & Hayton (1999, p. 252) puts forth that the school’s openness to change is a critical factor in the progress of training and development. They have also stated that there are external and moderating variables that influence training levels. The interplay among these factors is the key determinant to the kind of training which shall be prioritized by the firm (Ridoutt et al., 2002, p. 14). Moreover, it has also been presented that smaller-sized schools were more involved in informal training compared to larger ones. There are several drivers that affect and push training within any school, as follows: Approaches: Having pointed out this distinction, it may be worthwhile for me to delve more lengthily on learning processes which may be more applicable to the work setting, including action learning, situated learning, and incidental learning. Action learning is defined as a systematic way through which learning transpires by application of theory or by doing. It is anchored on the assumption that learning necessitates action and that this in turn needs input from learning. Learning per se is the expected result of action learning, and it does not intend to focus on the resolution of a problem (Lewis & Williams, 1994, p. 12). Brown et al (1988)

Application of the Letter from Birmingham in the War in Syria Essay

Application of the Letter from Birmingham in the War in Syria - Essay Example Martin Luther and his friend Abernathy Ralph had led demonstrations against laws that promoted the segregation of the black people in America. According to the law, Martin and Abernathy were supposed to get a permit to conduct the demonstrations. However, they failed to get the permit and that led to his arrest (King 34). The church clergy had responded to his arrest on the same day that he was detained in Birmingham prison arguing that both the white and black people should obey the civil laws in the country. Luther wrote the letter with the aim of justifying his disobedience of the law by arguing that it was the unjustness of the law that made him to demonstrate. Luther argues there are just and unjust laws, but the existence of unjust laws anywhere leads to injustice everywhere in the letter (King 36). King’s separation of just and unjust laws may be used in the analysis of the way in Syria and recommend on the actions that should be taken to end the war in the country. Mar tin argues that a regulation is just when it concurs with the laws of God, which he calls the ethical rules. Unjust laws, on the other hand, are those that are not based on the moral laws of God. Thus, according to King, laws are fair when they are acceptable in the whole society because God’s rules are equal to all citizens despite their race and color (Tiefendbrun 68). This argument aimed at informing the state that the segregation of the black people who lived in the southern parts of Alabama was an unfair act that was against the will of God. The segregation of the black people commonly known as the Negros had been in the country since the eighteenth century when slavery of Africans and Asians was practiced in the western nations (King 25). King also argued that injustice in any part of the country led to unfairness in the whole nation. This meant that the injustice that existed in the southern part of the nation led to the unfairness in all regions of America (Tiefenbrun 70). Luther also meant that the segregation of the black people was a sign of immorality of the whole nation including the whites. This indicated that the white people would be considered as immoral even when they acted fairly in other things in the south and in other regions in the country. This means that even if nations and people conduct themselves in all things except one, they will still be unfair and they will lack development. King demonstrates this by giving the example of how Africa was moving towards independence at a high speed while America was wasting time segregating the black people. The activist argued that Americans were lagging behind by taking the longest time to serve Africans only a cup of coffee (King 79). This meant that the injustice of the laws would cause injustice in the country by slowing down freedom and development like that which Africa and Asia were experiencing at that time. Martin postulates that â€Å"the oppressors who are mainly the leaders do not award the minority groups their freedom voluntarily† (King 80) Therefore, he argues that there is need for civil disobedience by the oppressed groups to force the leaders to grant them their moral rights. This argument justified King’s act of disobeying laws by conducting demonstrations instead of negotiating with the leaders. He further justifies himself by pronouncing that he was tired of being asked to wait for negotiations. Luther argued that the word wait had become a synonym of never because he and his fellow Negros had heard it for numerous years before deciding to disobey the law (King 82). Thus, according to Martin, leaders should award their people with justice on time to avoid the disobedience of the law. However, when the leaders fail to create fair regulations, they should be reminded through

Prescriptive & Emergent Strategies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Prescriptive & Emergent Strategies - Essay Example Companies in the current corporate world need to develop strategies which comprise series of decisions and plans developed focusing on achieving the company goals and objectives. All forms of organizations require strategic plan to ensure that they achieve the set objectives whether they are small or large. Strategic management is a core aspect of an organization and comprises of various approaches adopted in various companies. Therefore to evaluate a strategic plan of a given company, it is important to acknowledge and explore other available alternatives. It is notable that prescriptive and emergent strategic planning strategies are popular and mostly used in various companies. These two strategies go head to head in much argument and it is important for companies to evaluate their relevance and effectiveness given economic climate that the specific company is operating (Analoui 2003). In the context of the current economic climate the one that will ensure that the organization attain its long-term and short-term objectives shall emerge to being on top. The current economic climate It is notable that the current economic climate in most countries in the world is very much turbulent. This has become a key determinant in regard to strategic planning of most organizations and companies. According to Charles Hill (2009) he asserts that in UK and USA and many other countries it is notable that they are out of economic crisis and recession, there is much fear that the economic situation may return to recession (Hill 2009). The most affected companies are the retail companies which have opened stores in many countries.

Country Risk Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Country Risk - Assignment Example ous risks examined include the political risks such as tax legislation, risk due to foreign exchange rate variations, inflation rate, interest’s rates, etc. When business extends its operations to foreign countries it has to comply with regulations of the host country as well as those of the mother country. The report examines general business environment in UK and Malaysia in order to decide the best source of business funding and understand the prevailing challenges that Zeus PLC is likely to face during its operations. The company will contribute to growth of UK and Malaysia economies through creation of employment opportunities, generating revenue, etc. Its operations will be influenced by the labour laws of the two countries. In order to minimize the cost of operations the company should set its operation as branch in foreign country and use the local currency to pay its workers in order to reduce effects of currency exchange on cost of labour. Malaysia is a mixed economy in which both private and public sectors are actively involved in business, and the country provides an enabling business environment for both domestic and foreign companies. â€Å"The services industry including business services (wholesale and retail), financial transport, communication and real estate subsectors contributes 58.6% of the economic Gross Domestic Products (GDP) as of 2011† (Ibp Inc. 2014. P. 124). Manufacturing sector is the second (contributing 27.5%) while agriculture and mining industry takes third and fourth positions with 7.3% and 6.3% respectively (Export.gov. 2014). However, existence of "tight fiscal policies, nonaggressive consumers, and restrained global growth" services is likely to limit the economic growth in UK (PwC. 2014). The government aims to "promote foreign investments through by deregulating Foreign Investment Committee’s investment procedures† (Dana, Mahdi, Zin, Ramli, Nor, & Mohd, 2013. P. 11). T he report examines general business environment in

Module Matinee 6 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Module Matinee 6 - Essay Example excellent message that it is not the race, cultural difference, prejudice or social disparity that makes people to hate each other but it is the habit of blaming others for the frustration and problems they are going through their lives that makes them to hate each other. the people from other ethnic background and culture. They think that it is because of their presence that they are not able to find happiness and peace in life. Farhad thinks that people from white ethnic background do not accept him as one of them. He is being compared to the terrorists just because he follows Muslim tradition. Jean thinks that she has to suppress her true emotions as she fears being called as ‘racist’ if she expresses them. Chrsitine thinks that she suffered molestation at the hands of a police officer from white ethnic background as she belonged to black ethnic background. In this way, every character in the movie thinks that people from other ethnic backgrounds are responsible for the misery and disharmony they are experiencing in their lives. In the beginning, the characters are shown displaying their external behavior patterns. For example, Jean expressing her fear when she sees Anthony and Peter crossing her, Officer Ryan insulting Christine and Cameron, Farhad being aggressive ‘perceiving’ discrimination at the hands of the shopkeeper in the gun shop, etc. However, as the movie continues, we get to see the other side of these characters. We feel sorry for Officer Ryan when we see that his father is suffering from painful disease and he has to watch him in pain helplessly. Jean’s insecurity about her relationship with her husband makes us feel that it is her personal frustration that is making her to behave negatively towards people from other ethnic background. We get to see a very warm side of Daniel’s personality when he tells his daughter that they have left the ‘bad’ neighborhood where there is violence. Slowly, the movie reveals the true reasons that